Call: 020 8516 7767
Email : enquiries@wandsworthlink.org.uk
Dear Colleague
A SEMINAR: BME Mental Health & Well Being Seminar – Service User Involvement and Personalisation
Date: Thursday 3rd March 2011
Venue: Mushkil Aasaan, First Floor, 222 Upper Tooting Road, London, SW17 7EW
Time: 10.00am –3:30pm
The Asian Health Agency in partnership with South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust, Open Up Time to Change, Mind and Power Up are organising a seminar to explore the mental health issues
Objectives of Seminar:
• Empowering Black & Ethnic Minority community members particularly service users & carers to have their voices heard.
• To reduce stigma and discrimination and promote Social Inclusion and better mental health care for the BME communities.
• Promoting awareness and sharing latest information on the current state of health & social care of BME people.
• Exploring vital and relevant issues related to user involvement & Personalisation within BME communities.
• Increasing understanding on ways of influencing the decision making process of the local health & social care agenda.
• Developing innovative ways of addressing the existing health & social care inequalities by building new means of partnership and collaboration
• Facilitating opportunities for healthcare professionals to come together with community members and groups to share areas of common interests and concern
Cost
Free but places must be booked in advance.
Please find attached the leaflet on the above seminar:
If you wish to organise a similar event in your area or need further information please contact me on: farah.chaudhry@taha.org.uk
This is a free seminar, however you must book your place in advance.
I shall be grateful if you could circulate it to your colleagues, members, as well as people on your mailing list.
Thank you for your support.
Kind Regards,
Farah Chaudhry.
BME Leadership & Engagement Project
For further information and to book a place contact:
Farah Chaudhry 020 8981 2146 / 07961 712 392
Jessie Jandu 020 8571 7928 admin2@taha.org.uk
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Warmer days are on the way, and we’d like to invite you to Thrive’s Herb Garden. This will be an opportunity to celebrate the progress of referrals made since joining the Working it Out training program, This will be held on Thursday 10th Feb 2011 at Thrive Herb Garden, Battersea Park, Albert Bridge Rd, SW11 4NJ from 12.00 to 14.00.
The afternoon will consist of
Please come along if you would like to know more about the working it out training and what it offers. It’s free to residents of Westminster, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham. Working it Out is specifically for Londoners living with ill mental health. Assisting them to gain a City & Guilds Level 2 in Horticulture and offering access to employment advice and work placements.
The link below is a map of how to get to Thrive Garden
You are also welcome to bring along any referrals with you who may be interested in joining the program. Please let me know if you can join us on the 10th by calling 0207 720 2212 or email isla.ferns@thrive.org.uk If you could also forward this to your teams it would be most appreciated.
Hope to see you there, kind regards,
Isla
MAC share their views on Andrew Lansley’s Health White Paper…
Liberating the NHS the new Health White Paper on “equity and excellence” could turn out to be, in Chris Ham’s prophetic words today, the “biggest organisational upheaval in the health service, probably, since its inception”. This is about England only of course: the contrast with the other three countries in these islands will now be even starker.
Shaping the new order
Speaking in the Commons this afternoon as the document was published, Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley said his objectives were putting patients right at the heart of their care, putting clinicians at the heart of decisions about services and achieving health outcomes comparable of our neighbours.
We are to have an outcomes framework identifying what the health service should achieve and it will be up to the professionals (in collaboration with the public and patients if Lansley is serious about “no decision about me without me”) to say how it should be achieved in each part of the country.
Some of the other highlights of the new order include:
Liberation is a double edged sword
MAC’s initial reaction to all of this – our deeper thoughts are for later – is that what Mr Lansley is proposing - and the devil will be in the detail of the coming consultations and the autumn Health Bill – could certainly be “liberating” both in an innovative but also in a chaotic sense (think Pandora’s box) - and probably at the same time. The phrase “constructive discomfort” comes to mind.
But there’s a catch. The NHS in England must save recurrently some £20bn by 2014 - “every penny saved will be a penny reinvested for the benefit of patient care” Mr Lansley said. That takes many steady eyes and hands on the job and some well placed voices are wondering if now is the right time to pursue wholesale root and branch change which will be very distracting in our largest and most expensive public service? Managers fashioning lifeboats for themselves may have concerns other than achieving efficiency savings.
Cromwellian thoroughness and speed
The reforms to commissioning and accountability aim to be Cromwellian in thoroughness and speed. Andrew Lansley seems to be taking Tony Blair’s approach further and faster than anyone thought possible, but the difference is there seems to be a map this time. Our modern day “major generals” (aka Strategic Health Authorities) are being marched off to the Tower awaiting termination - or as Mr Lansley termed it “disempowerment of bureaucracies” – by 2012, to be followed by PCTs by April 2013.
As we move towards then, will the crowd be shouting “behold the heads of tyrants” as we breath the free and pure air of GP commissioning, or will we just be too distracted to care? And will there be anyone left in PCT land by then to turn off the lights, cancel the milk and put the cat out?
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As the election looms, uncertainty prevails. What lies in store for LINks after the election?
The conservatives have put together their 5 priorities for Patient and Public Involvement which outlines their aim to keep LINks and give them more power and autonomy.
Click here to read the ConservativesPatient_safety_plan[1] and their Health Watch Proposal
Secretary of State Andy Burnham has this week announced the start of a nationwide consultation about abolishing GP practice boundaries/catchment areas.
Here is an excerpt from the press release, which also quotes local GP Dr Seth Rankin:
Patients will have the chance to choose the best GP practice for them under new plans in a consultation published today by Health Secretary Andy Burnham.
At present, GPs operate within fixed geographical boundaries that can be restrictive and severely reduce patients’ choice of the practice they register with, especially for those patients living in poorer areas.
The majority of patients are happy with their current GP practice but a significant minority would like to change their GP.
For many patients it is important to be registered with a local GP so their GP can visit them at home and help co-ordinate care with local health professionals. Others want to register with a practice closer to where they work, or one closer to home, open longer or offers more services. Other patients have said they’d like to be able to stay registered with their current practice when they move house.
The consultation is seeking views on a wide range of proposals, in particular around the issues involved in arranging home visits, co-ordination of community based services, safeguarding access for local residents, and access to hospital and specialist treatment.
This is a very important development with a number of issues attached to it about patient choice, continuity of care and how primary care practices are funded.
You can read the full story here www.dh.gov.uk/en/News/Recentstories/DH_113502 and also access the consultation at the foot of the page.
The assumption is that the changes will be implemented from October 2010.
What do you think about these proposals? LINk is trying to gather the thoughts and opinions of local Wandsworth Residents which they will then feed into the consultation. Please get in touch with us or write your comments at the bottom of this page.
Wandsworth Borough Council & DisabledGo invite you to join them at the Steering Group Meeting
on Tuesday 9th March, 2.30- 3.30 p.m at Wandsworth Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street
Wandsworth, SW18 2PU.
About DisabledGo
DisabledGo has been working in partnership with the Wandsworth Borough Council since 2004 to produce an online access guide to Wandsworth
So that the DisabledGo-Wandsworth guide develops in the way that local people want it to, we invite you to the steering group to give us feedback on the following:
- New venues that you would like to see added
- The new DisabledGo website
- Online steering groups
RSVP INFORMATION
Please RSVP using the attached reply slip as soon as possible with any specific requirements you may have to:
Tom Felton, DisabledGo, Ardent House, Gates Way, Stevenage, SG1 3HG.
E: tom.felton@disabledgo.com
Tel: 01438 842710
Fax: 01438 842717
If you know of anyone who may be interested in hearing more about the service we provide, or would like to attend the meeting please do not hesitate in forwarding this information on
There are three main topics in the latest issue
The Department of Health has launched a campaign to ‘promote the meaning and merits of LINks – among the whole community and among health and social care care professionals. with the ultimate aim of encouraging engagement and participation in your LINk’ The Department is using a social PR company – Forster – who will be coming out to LINks to work with them on this.
In High Quality Care for All, Lord Darzi said publishing quality performance would help patients and their carers make better informed choices about health care and allow clinical teams to benchmark, compare and improve their performance.
High Quality Care for All proposed that all providers of NHS care should produce Quality Accounts to provide the public with information on the quality of care they provide. The Department of Health has introduced legislation to require the publication of Quality Accounts from April 2010. Designing the format and content of Quality Accounts, is being facilitated by the DH, and steered by stakeholders, including the regulators, NHS management, clinicians, professional organisations, patient groups and the public.
The lessons learnt in a pilot from producing Quality Reports , alongside those from the Quality Accounts engagement process, are being used to develop the detailed guidance that the Department of Health aims to publish in early 2010, following a consultation on the proposed content of Quality Accounts over the autumn 2009. This process will also inform the Care Quality Commission and Monitor in their approach to developing the regulatory system for healthcare.
In September the Department of Health launched a consultation which you can find here.
The consultation closes on Thursday 10th December.
A number of LINks have asked about this topic and whether LINks are covered by a indemnity policy set up by the Secretary of State. Some LINks have concerns that an authorised representative making a report following a visit might be reluctant to make a candid and honest report in case the business owner makes a claim for defamation against them personally.
The answer is no – it is up to the local authority – Wandsworth in our case. If you feel that you might need such a policy, you can see the advice on the LINks Exchange website and take it up with the LINks office.
NHS Wandsworth is currently reviewing Adult Community Nursing Services, including District Nursing, Community Matrons and Specialist Nursing Services (Diabetes Nurses, Heart Failure Nurses, Leg Ulcer Nurses, and Respiratory Nurses)
If you have received any of these services or are a carer of someone who has received these services, NHS Wandsworth would like to hear from you!
Please take the time to complete this short questionnaire and return it to NHS Wandsworth (not the LINk office).
Please return completed surveys by Friday 28th August to:
Suzanne Lawler
Long Term Conditions Commissioning Manager
By email: suzanne.lawler@wpct.nhs.uk
By post:
Wandsworth PCT HQ
3rd Floor, Wimbledon Bridge House
Hartfield Road
London
SW19 3RU
Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton are looking for a volunteer to take part in their regular inspections.
These inspections are called Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections and assess a range of factors including standards of maintenance, décor, furnishings and cleanliness to help bring about improvements to the patient environment.
Queen Mary’s carries out 3 “mini-PEAT” inspections and one PEAT inspection every year through a group called the Patient Environment Action Group (PEAG). The PEAG meets every 3 months, and volunteers will be expected to take part in each meeting and inspection (i.e. 8 sessions per year).
The hospital is looking for volunteers who have a keen interest in the patient environment and experience, and are able to report back to the LINk (verbally and in writing). They will cover all expenses that you incur when taking part in this role and can provide additional support in the form of basic training (giving background on PEAT inspections).
The deadline for submission is the 4th August, applicants to supply a short personal statement (no more than 200 words).
Please note if there is an insufficient response, they will defer an appointment until October so there will be another chance to get involved.
If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Tom Magill on 0208 812 7642 or Tom.Magill@wpct.nhs.uk.
Some totally timely topics in the latest issue of the report from the PEC/ NHS Wandsworth Management Team meeting (link opens in PDF). This is personal feedback from Andrew Craig in his role as the Lay Member on the PEC.
Local data shows a clear link between deprivation and cancer mortality with the more deprived Wandsworth wards (Latchmere, Queenstown, Northcote) having higher rates than the rest of London. The action plan covers
More work is needed with users of cancer services and those who were identified as being at risk. To be successful, these programmes, Andrew argues, must be engaged with users – for example finding out what young people in particular know and understand about skin cancer risks.
Swine flu seems to have well and truly arrived in Wandsworth and the PEC queried why drugs like Tamiflu could not be obtained from ordinary chemists rather than two designated health centres and one chemist in Tooting? If things get worse, the PEC wants to see these drugs available in all pharmacies in normal hours as well as a convenient out of hours service.
NHS Wandsworth (NHSW) has a surplus at the moment of £6.3million. This gives NSHW some financial headroom to plan for the future. But government rules mean that any surplus has to be spent and not used to help out in a future with less money. So a deficit looks likely after 2011/12 and people will have to use the money they do get more efficiently. The NHSW board is discussing the future strategy needed to cope at their meeting on 29th July.
The committee considered a report on user and patient engagement in the groupings of GP practices known as clusters where the situation is very mixed. A reminder was needed that involving patients was not an end in itself – there needed to be a purpose and some results.
NICE is the body that issues advice on how best to treat people and a recent May publication gave guidance on lower back pain. The PCT has to act on such guidance and provide the services that do seem to work and decommission those that do not. The clinical effectiveness group will look at the NICE guidance and advise the PCT on what it needs to do.
For a copy of the full report of the meeting, go to the NHS Wandsworth website featuring Board Reports. All the PEC Lay Member reports can be found on the Resources menu under Health & Social Care.