Meetings

The Mayoral Community Reception at City Hall

Monday 5^th July 2010, 6.30pm – 8.00pm 

The Mayor of London’s forthcoming Mayoral Community Receptions at City Hall are designed to bring Londoners together to celebrate the capital’s diversity, and encourage greater community cohesion and improved integration in this city. These receptions will also honour those who make their area or neighbourhood a better place to live, and will very much encourage community participation and civic engagement.

The inaugural event will bring together those living in the Assembly Constituencies of Lambeth/Southwark and Merton/Wandsworth, and will be held on Monday 5 July 2010 at City Hall from 6.30pm to 8.00pm.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) is keen to invite an array of community organisations and leaders from faith, elders, women’s, LGBT, minority ethnic groups in Wandsworth.

If you would like to represent your organisation at this event, please contact:

Richard Reddie

Senior Co-ordinator,

External Affairs,

City Hall,

The Queen’s Walk,

London, SE1 2AA
Tel: 020 7983 6527
Email: Richard.Reddie@london.gov.uk

www.london.gov.uk

LAY MEMBER’S HEADLINE FEEDBACK FROM THE NHS WANDSWORTH PROFESSIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (PEC) MEETING WITH THE MANAGEMENT TEAM ON 13 APRIL 2010

Self-Referral Physiotherapy Service Update

The PEC has been supportive of self-referral to physiotherapy.  A successful pilot is running in West Wandsworth (through Queen Mary’s) and a pilot is soon to start in Central Wandsworth (through Wandsworth  Medical Centre at the top of Garrett Lane).   Self referral will be a recognised referral route and will be imbedded into the referral pathway.  There will be a further report on developments in 3 to 4 months.

I welcomed this development, having raised the issue some months ago about self-referral to therapists.  We need to understand the user feedback/evidence  in the West Wandsworth pilot.   This is a good focus for  shifting services, if the community service is robust enough and seeing the right people and changing user behaviour about where they might choose to go and what services they can access. 

Ethical Framework for Priority Setting

This is a draft framework to facilitate the decision making process around priorities, especially in a time of financial restraint and competing demands for funding.  The NHS Constitution has been referenced in compiling it and it reflects the legal and ethical duties of the PCT.   PEC welcomed this tool and it was agreed that when it was fully fledged, it would be used to revisit earlier decisions made about funding obesity (bariatric) surgery and funding for fertility (IVF).    There is an aspiration to share this process with Local Authority councillors (Health OSC in particular) and officers. It can support the new LCCBs (Local Clinical Commissioning Boards).  The June meeting will consider an amended version including weightings for value for money, feasibility and service fit. 

I welcomed this approach to decision making and support sharing the process in a public seminar.  Planned differences in services are acceptable – even desirable – when they reflect evidence based decisions about health needs of the local populations.

Cancer Prevention Action Plan

Cancer and CVD (cardiovascular disease) are the two main causes of death locally.  The mortality rate for cancer is rising and as currently set, the local target (reflecting previous unmet targets) to reduce cancer deaths is not achievable.  Wandsworth is the worst performer in the sector for cancer deaths in people under 75.  Smoking is the greatest cause of cancer locally and the PCT is not doing enough to achieve stop smoking targets.  Reducing smoking  would be the most cost effective thing the local NHS could do to reduce deahs and make savings from smoking-related problems.  Performance on colorectal cancer was also cause for concern locally and there was unsatisfactory uptake of the national bowel cancer screening initiative. Other key areas of activity in the cancern prevention plan included:

• raising awareness and needs assessment
• smoking cessation
• obesity control
• increasing physical activity
• alcohol reduction,
• cancer screening – breast, cervical and bowel
• sun protection and early detection of skin cancer
• HPV vaccination.

Obviously the public’s awareness and willingness to come forward for screening and when symptoms are suspected or detected is essential for success in any prevention programme.   Steps have been taken to address gaps in the PCT’s understanding of how local people understand cancer, eg about skin cancer risks and testicular cancer in younger men. Social marketing aimed at high risk groups is the main tool used to discover user-focused views and a tendering exercise to appoint a company to undertake this work is nearing completion.  

GP Performers List Update

PEC discussed the issue of strengthening language competency for GPs, including those providing out of hours services, and other health care professionals.  The General Medical Council registration procedure did not offer sufficient assurance and as EU/EEA qualified doctors were not required to demonstrate competency in English, it was up to local processes to do this. The PCT’s letter to applicants for the Performers List had been strengthened about language proficiency and the Primary Care Support Service was putting in place a language test. Patients have a right to assume that a doctor who comes to see them at home is competent in English. There was a problem with locums who were not on the Performers List who come from agencies.  The PCT’s out of hours contract (currently with Harmoni) would also be strengthened as part of the current rewriting of the specification prior to re-tendering.  Local GPs using agencies for locums will be advised only to use agencies that require standards of English testing.  The same would be applied to nurses and therapists employed through agencies.  PEC agreed it was essential to assure the public on this issue.

I support this move and would encourage any patient or carer who has had an unsatisfactory experience with a clinician having poor command of English, whatever the setting,  to tell the PCT about this.  

Other Business

It was announced that contracts had been terminated with the folowing three GPs and that they had ceased to trade.  Patients of these practices had been informed and been offered allocations to other practices. 

Dr Daud Khan  87 Northcote Road; Dr Mohamed Sultan and Dr Jawed Ali   138-140  Mitcham Road

 PEC and PCT Board papers are available on the NHS Wandsworth website: www.wandsworth.nhs.uk   contact  Sandra Notridge on 020 8812 7740 or e-mail sandra.notridge@wpct.nhs.uk

Next Meeting of the NHS Wandsworth Board: 

Balham Park Surgery, 236 Balham High Road,  not the Town Hall, starting at 09h30 on Wednesday 28^th April.

Next Meeting of the PEC: 09h30 on Tuesday, 11^th May 2010.

Last night at the open meeting at South Thames College each of the Battersea parliamentary candidates from the three main political parties were asked their view of the current proposed polyclinic hub services for Battersea.

Jane Ellison (Conservative) felt that the current “portacabin” solution in Grant Road was a far cry from what was promised by NHS Wandsworth after the expensive consultation in 2008.  She still felt that a replacement hub on the NHS-owned Bolingbroke Hospital site would have been the best solution.

Martin Linton (Labour) pointed out that the “portacabin” solution was only temporary whilst the permanent base for the GP health centre under the arches was prepared.  He also reiterated NHS Wandsworth commitment to achieving the comprehensive hub on the Grant Road site: a promise made by NHS Wandsworth after referral of their current plans to the Council’s Health Committee by Wandsworth LINk.

Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat) saw the long-term solution being the creation of local health boards which would take over the running of local health services.  Local people would then be able to determine what happened in their own area.

Roger Appleton

Chair Wandsworth LINk

LINk Elections- nominate now

On Monday 18th January 2010 between 6p.m. and 8.30 p.m. the LINk will be holding a meeting at which we will elect a new Executive Committee member to fill the vacant place on the Executive. All members of LINk are invited to take part in this election.

Under the current agreement the elected candidate will serve for the remainder of the vacant term i.e. until January 2012. (It should be noted that the term served by an elected member is currently under review)

All current members will receive a letter or email depending on their specified preference and pack in the post detailing how they can nominate and vote. Alternatively all relevant documents are available here:

• nomination for election form
• appointment of proxy form
• nomination and voting procedure

Nominations

Any member who has signed up as a LINk member by 12 noon on Monday 21st December 2009 can stand for election. This is also the deadline for receipt of nominations for election to the Executive Committee.

You do not need a proposer or seconder- you can nominate yourself and fill in the statement in support of the nomination and declaration of interest.

 
How you can vote….

• In Person on the night – Monday 18th January 2010

• By appointing another person to act as your proxy.

• By Post – This must be requested by 12 noon on Monday 4th January 2009, from the Host (Wandsworth Care Alliance). The vote must then be completed and returned to the Host office by 12 noon on Friday 15th January 2010.

 
What if I am not a member but would like to vote?

If you would like to register as a member and in turn take part in these elections then please click here.
If you would like any additional information or assistance completing the nomination form or with voting arrangements, please ring the Host at WCA on 02085 167 767 or email sarah@wandcareall.org.uk and someone will be pleased to assist you.

Just a reminder that our next meeting is open to the public and starts with an Executive business meeting from 6 pm on Monday 23rd November at York Gardens Library, Battersea, followed at 7.15 pm by refreshments and a presentation and open discussion about being discharged from hospital and the difficulties that can arise. You can see the full set of papers for this meeting here.

If you would like to make any comments on what we are going to talk about, please get in touch with Sarah at Wandsworth Care Alliance by noon on Monday 23rd November. You can reach her on 020 8696 1709 or by email sarah@wandcareall.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you.

Come and join our Open Discussion at the LINk Executive Committee meeting Monday 23rd November.

Wandsworth LINk will be holding its Executive Committee meeting on 23rd November at 7.30 at York Gardens Library, Battersea, Lavender Road, London, SW11 2UG. There will be a presentation on Hospital Discharge and care planning, followed by an open discussion. Please do come along and share your views.

Click here to view the agenda and minutes from the previous Executive Committee on 28th September.

The LINk Executive will be meeting at 6 to 8.30pm at the Best Western Lodge Hotel 52-54 Upper Richmond Road, Putney SW15 2RN.

Amongst the 12 items down for discussion, will be the updates from the five sub-groups. Three papers set out matters for discussion/ decision. The executive members will be discussing the topic of democracy and the LINk, followed by looking again at the options on payments for volunteers and finally they are asked to agree the new Wandsworth LINk strapline.

The agenda as well as all the papers can be found via our LINk meeting minutes page.

The next meeting of the Secondary Health and Social Care Sub Group will be held on Monday September 14th, at Putney Library, 5/7 Disraeli Road, Putney SW15 2DR, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

Light refreshments will be available.

For further information, please contact Susan at the LINk host office. She can be reached on:
Email: enquiries@wandsworthlink.org.uk or
Telephone: 020 8696 170

The next meeting of the Primary Health and Social Care Sub Group will be held on Thursday September 10th, at Putney Library, 5/7 Disraeli Road, Putney SW15 2DR, 6.00pm to 8.00pm.

Light refreshments will be available.

For further information, please contact Susan at the LINk host office. She can be reached on:
Email: enquiries@wandsworthlink.org.uk or
Telephone: 020 8696 170

There are some 19,000 carers living in Wandsworth and the new Carers’ Strategy will cover how the statutory and voluntary agencies will help carers over the next 5 years.

Wandsworth Council, NHS Wandsworth and other partner agencies are currently consulting on the draft strategy and plans for Carers – this includes young carers too. Wandsworth LINk has been asked to help gather views, comments and suggestions to help improve the current draft plans.

If you would like to see the draft strategy and action plan (which are being consulted on) they are available by from this website or we will send them to you in the post.

Your Views in Writing, by Phone or by Web Comment

You can reach us to ask for a copy of the plan and give us your views at Wandsworth LINk, 2nd floor, Bedford House, 215 Balham High Road, SW17 7BQ, on 020 8696 1709 or leave a comment after reading this by clicking on the blue comment text at the top of this piece.

Your Views in Person

If you want to give your views in person, come to the one of the two Carers’ Voices discussion being held in August and have a chance to win £30 of shopping vouchers (the draw is after the second meeting) as well meeting other carers over tea.

Tuesday 18th August 11-1pm at Balham Library Hall, 16 Ramsden Road, SW12 8QY

OR

Wednesday 19th August 6-8pm Putney Library Meeting Room, 5/7 Disraeli Road, Putney, SW15 2DR

Call Daniel at the Wandsworth Carers Centre on (020) 8675 0811 to register your place, or find out more.

The Wandsworth LINk is committed to improving the services for Carers in Wandsworth – and in order to achieve this we would like to hear from Wandsworth residents what they think of carers’ services now and what improvements they would like to see in the future.