Wandsworth ASSD is interested in hearing people’s experiences of receiving a Personal Budget and hopes to gain insight of this experience from the service users point of view……can we bring the power of the user experience to bear particularly at this time of change??

The action research project hopes to find a group of eight to fifteen service users and/or their carers, from different client groups to keep diaries and records of their experiences, which will then be shared with other service users and staff in Adult Social Services to help us to learn from their experiences.

Nina Back, Voices Project Officer

phone: (020) 8871 8077

email: nback@wandsworth.gov.uk

Voices Project poster

Personal Budget Poster

Carol Barton, Wandsworth Council’s Transformation Programme Manager will be at the meeting and this is the perfect opportunity to have your questions answered, we want our members and local people to determine what Carol talks about, not the other way around. To ensure that this happens we’re asking that, if possible, you submit your questions to us before the meeting, especially if you can’t make the meeting but still have opinions you want expressed, and questions you want answered.

If you, anyone you know or the organisation you represent has a question for Carol Barton please email me or phone the office on 0208 516 7767.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Wandsworth LINk

ACIS an easy to use directory, has been developed by Adult Social Services and connects social care and the community by providing information on everything from finding a care home and locating your doctor and dentist to keeping fit and healthy and claiming benefits.

The new site is now up and running and it would be appreciated if all members of staff could familiarise themselves with the layout and location of information and pass this information on to service users.

Currently there are minor technical faults with the navigation of the site which is a wider issue with the service provider, Jadu. The fault is that once you have selected a record there is no means to return to the previous screen, to overcome this problem please use your browsers ‘back’ button or ‘backspace’ key on your keyboard.

We hope that this new information service will provide a comprehensive overview of health and social care for our service users.

Circumstances have required us to get this up and running at very short notice so whilst confident that the website is a very positive starting point, please understand that it will benefit from further improvement over time.

Please email us at acis@wandsworth.gov.uk if you spot any problems or inaccuracies in the directory.

Have you had a stroke?

Have you cared for someone who’s had a stroke?

Do you live in South London?

Join us on Wednesday 28th July to tell us how we can improve stroke services in South London.

If you have been affected by stroke within the past two years, please join us on Wednesday 28th July from 12:00-4:30pm to help shape future stroke services.

The SLCSN will host a workshop for stroke survivors and their carers in South London (near Waterloo station)to get their views on what support patients need following a stroke. These ideas will be used to influence future service changes.

During the meeting:

• You’ll be asked for your views on what support patients would like six months after a stroke
• Leading clinicians will update you on the latest developments in stroke treatment
• You’ll have the chance to meet other patients and carers to share experiences
• You’ll be able to find out how the SLCSN is working to improve care in the region

If you’d like to join us or have questions, please contact us on

people@slcsn.nhs.uk or 0208 812 5950.

(Please note space is limited so you must contact us to reserve your place. )

The venue has disabled access and a hearing loop. Communication support will be available.

This is a free event and lunch will be provided.

This event will be held at:

Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre

108 Stamford Street

London SE1 9NH

www.coinstreet.org

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

Better Integration = More Effective Commissioning

The discussion on how best to provide the services needed by drug and alcohol users identified the important point that ‘drug and alcohol services should be considered together for commissioning purposes in close liaison with the local authority.’ Andrew added his own view saying:

“I welcomed the emphasis on better integration and more effective commissioning of these services. The Local Strategic Partnership should be the forum to address the wider non-health issues around drug and alcohol problems as it could involve more stakeholders including the police and courts service. Insight from service users was an essential part of the intelligence the PCT must obtain in order to improve its competencies in this area.”

The benefits of the PCT and Wandsworth Council working together came up again in a discussion about children’s service and how a joint initiative could be established using pooled funds from both local government and health care organisations.

Unprecedented Response – reliable basis for decisions

The South Wandsworth Consultation in which we as a LINk were very much involved had seen an unprecedented level of response from a good cross section of people in the borough.  This means that the information is a reliable basis for future decisions about the service.

In the light of this successful consultation, it is a shame that work going on to decide where future savings could be made did not involve frequent service users. Andrew makes the point that the PCT’s

“customer insight was inadequate to the scale of the decisions we needed to take and this had to be addressed through our engagement efforts. Service users and the general public had to be brought on board with the rationale for this thinking. If they were not, the risk was considerable that reasonable intiatives to achieve efficiency would be misunderstood and rejected by the very people who should be helping to identify them.”

Better Data, Lower Score but Better Service

NHS Wandsworth had collected better information on its drug services which showed things to be worse than had been previously thought and meant they got a lower score on some of the Government’s targets. However the better data means better provision since managers now have a better understanding of what the needs are and how they might be met. Congratulations to the NHS Wandsworth for risking the consequences of getting low marks on central government targets in favour of better local service in the long run.

To view the PEC October 2009 Report document in full, please visit our Health & Social Care page.

10.30am to 3pm Tuesday 6th October at the Civic Suite Wandsworth High St., SW18 2PU

The LINks will have a stall at this event where Carers are invited to come and have a ’speed date’ with the people responsible for providing support and services for carers in Wandsworth. These senior professionals from the Council, Health and Mental Health Services will be there to answer your questions about the plans they have made for action and improvement in these area.

National Carer in Chief will be there

Dame Philippa Russell Chair of the Government’s Commission for Carers will be there to give the keynote address.

Free lunch, Entertainment and Other Treats

Meet your fellow unpaid carers and don’t forget to come and tell us what we should be saying on your behalf to the bigwigs. No need to ’speed date’ us – we’ll be sticking around.

Wandsworth’s Carers’ Strategy

Back in July we posted an item telling you about the new Carers’ Strategy consultation being undertaken in Wandsworth.

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.

At that time, Wandsworth LINk welcomed the initiative of the Adults Services Department to begin a dialogue about how to extend involvement and engagement of service users and is keen to work in partnership to implement the proposals. We fully support of the values and philosophy underpinning the Adult Services User Engagement and Involvement Strategy.

Our Response

We have now published our response to the Strategy and you can see it in the Resources Section of the website as the LINk Response to Consultation on Wandsworth’s Carers’ Strategy (PDF). Our response is based on the content of the Strategy and Action Plan documentation, the views expressed by 25 people who attended the two consultation meetings and anecdotal evidence from carers who have approached LINk. Thank you to all those who contributed.

LINk’s focus is on services for adults so comments are not offered about services to children and young people.

LINk recommendations for priority action

Ownership of the Strategy

The strategy is clearly a collaborative project across health and social care agencies. It would be further strengthened if ownership could be extended across all health and care commissioners and providers within the Borough.

Carer Participation

It is appreciated that this strategy was developed with the participation and involvement of carers looking after people from different user groups as well as young carers. Implementation will be strengthened with the development of specific good practice guidelines for involving an even wider range of carers, especially reaching those who need support with financial and practical problems of finding alternative care for their service user in order to participate.

From discussions about the consultation process, it emerged that Wandsworth does not currently have a data base of all carers who have received a carers’ assessment not is there a way of identifying carers via records on service users. It seems that more work could be done to identify and communicate with carers who may be unaware of what is available, even before work is done to identify carers not currently involved with services.

Information

Establish and publicize a multi-lingual help line specifically dedicated to supporting carers with an option for carers to be referred for an individual discussion.

Quality personalized care

Adopt and implement a policy whereby carers are always consulted and listened to

1. in the assessment and review of individual care
2. where services are planned to be changed or closed

Recognition and Respect

Provide carer-led training and involvement in recruitment for relevant professionals to ensure that they fully understand the vital role played by carers as partners in care and their entitlement to be involved and to have a carers’ assessment.

Good Communication

Establish a data base of carers in Wandsworth, inform them of their rights and entitlements and consult them about developments that may affect their lives.

Quality Breaks

Extend and publicize readily accessible affordable high quality respite care, including emergency respite and respite using the Crossroads model.

Health and well being

Extend and publicize counselling, support group and recreational services for carers, including provision at evenings and weekends taking into account the need of carers to find/pay for alternative care for their service user.

Economic well being

Ensure that the Carers’ Help Line can provide relevant benefits advice, debt counseling and information about employment entitlements.

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.

the Atheldene Resources Centre

305 Garrett Lane SW18 4EQ

On the agenda will be a presentation from Dawn Warwick, Director of Adult Social Services, Wandsworth Council on the Transformation Agenda. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and comment on what she has to say.

The Council has been working on the Transforming Social Care and Personalisation Programme for a while now and if you have time before hearing from Dawn in person to do some background reading, take a look at a progress report submitted earlier this year on the Council website.