Social Care Services

19 January, 2011 | By Steve Ford

The precise make-up of the new health and wellbeing boards has been set out in the Health and Social Care Bill.

The bill confirms that local authorities will have a duty to establish the boards, which are intended to lead on improving the strategic coordination of commissioning across NHS, social care, and related children’s and public health services.

It states that each board must include the following:

• at least one local authority councillor,the director of adult social services for the local authority,
• the director of children’s services for the local authority,
• the director of public health for the local authority,
• a representative of the local healthwatch organisation for the area of the local authority,
• a representative of each relevant commissioning consortium,
• and such other persons, or representatives of such other persons, as the local authority thinks appropriate.

A representative of the NHS Commissioning Board must also sit on the board when local authorities are drawing up joint strategic needs assessments and related strategies.

The bill states: “The National Health Service Commissioning Board must appoint a representative to join the health and wellbeing board for the purpose of participating in its preparation of the assessment or (as the case may be) the strategy.”

The wellbeing board may also request a representative from the commissioning board if it is “considering a matter that relates to the exercise or proposed exercise of the commissioning functions” of the commissioning board “in relation to the authority’s area”.

It states: “If the health and wellbeing board so requests, the National Health Service Commissioning Board must appoint a representative to join the health and wellbeing board for the purpose of participating in its consideration of the matter.”

However, the bill says that the representative “may, with the agreement of the health and wellbeing board, be a person who is not a member or employee of the National Health Service Commissioning Board”.

Additionally the bill says the elected mayor or the executive leader of the local authority may sit on the board as the sole council representative or as well as another councillor.

The bill also sets out the main functions of the wellbeing boards, which are to:

• encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in that area to work in an integrated manner,
• provide such advice, assistance or other support as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of encouraging the making of arrangements in connection with the provision of such services,
• encourage persons who arrange for the provision of health-related services in its area to work closely with the health and wellbeing board,
• encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in its area and persons who arrange for the provision of any health-related services in its area to work closely together.

Commissioning consortia are also required to consult with wellbeing boards when drawing up their annual plan “setting out how it proposes to exercise its functions in that year”.

Additionally the bill says health and wellbeing boards may group together to discharge their functions.

It states:  “Two or more health and wellbeing boards may make arrangements for any of their functions to be exercisable jointly; any of their functions to be exercisable by a joint sub-committee of the boards; a joint sub-committee of the boards to advise them on any matter related to the exercise of their functions.”

The Government have today published their Health and Social care Bill which many are describing as the ‘biggest shake up the NHS has seen since its inception’, you can read the full Bill by clicking on http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmbills/132/11132.pdf

A round up of responses….

Rethink

Changes to the NHS can only work in the best interests of patients if their voices are heard, warns Rethink.

Plans to reform the NHS will be a risky gamble if they are not supported by rigorous local scrutiny, the national mental health charity Rethink has warned.

Speaking in advance of the publication of the NHS Health and Social Care Bill tomorrow, Chief Executive Paul Jenkins said:

“It is vital patients have a strong and powerful voice under the new system and that local communities have a say in what services are needed.

“Without that safeguard ministers will be taking a big gamble over the future of the NHS.”

It’s essential that new bodies like HealthWatch are given the power and resources to hold the NHS to account and ensure it meets the needs of everyone, not just those who shout the loudest.

“Debate will be passionate over the coming months, but no voice is more important than that of the patient. Rethink will be campaigning to make sure that this new NHS is accountable to everyone it serves, particularly the most marginalised groups.”

Rethink also wants to see more support for GPs in the plans.

“GPs will be responsible for commissioning mental health services, but tell us that they need more training to understand those specialist services.

“Cases of severe mental illness, while more common than often thought, are not on the day to day appointment list in GPs surgeries.

“They tell us they want more training and support to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Over 40% of GPs we spoke to say they’re worried about their own lack of knowledge about the services available.”

RCGP
The RCGP said it ‘makes sense’ for health professionals to be involved in the planning of services, but the proposals risk ‘destabilising the NHS and causing long-term harm to patient outcomes’.

RCGP chairwoman Dr Clare Gerada said ‘we must guard against fragmentation and unnecessary duplication within a health service that is run by a wide array of competing public, private and voluntary sector providers, that delivers less choice and fewer services, reduces integration between primary and secondary care and increases bureaucratic costs’.

Patient choices as outlined in the Bill ‘run a risk of destabilising the NHS and causing long-term harm to patient outcomes’. The RCGP has also yet to receive sufficient evidence to be reassured the plans would prevent this from happening.

She concluded: ‘The NHS has for more than 60 years delivered a fair and efficient system of healthcare for millions of patients. We acknowledge that improvements can always be made, but we must work with the Government to protect the founding principles of the NHS; the stakes are too high to lose it now.’

BMA
The BMA said ploughing ahead with the reforms at the speed proposed was a ‘massive gamble’.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the BMA, said: ‘The BMA supports greater involvement of clinicians in planning and shaping NHS services, but the benefits that clinician-led commissioning can bring are threatened by other parts of the Bill.’

He added: ‘Forcing commissioners of care to tender contracts to any willing provider, including NHS providers, voluntary sector organisations and commercial companies, could destabilise local health economies and fragment care for patients.

‘Adding price competition into the mix could also allow large commercial companies to enter the NHS market and chase the most profitable contracts, using their size to undercut on price, which could ultimately damage local services.’

Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) supports the shift towards putting clinicians and patients in the driving seat but is concerned the Bill doesn’t require specialists to be at the heart of commissioning.

Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: ‘The scale and pace of change – and the challenge of unprecedented efficiency savings – should not be underestimated. Neither should the risks if we get this wrong.’

Unison
Unison, the public sector union, called the Health Bill a ‘disaster’ of Titanic proportions’. Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, said: ‘This Titanic health bill threatens to sink our NHS. The only survivors will be the private health companies that are circling like sharks, waiting to move in and make a killing.

‘Lansley has turned his back on the warnings from across the medical establishment that these changes are unnecessary, undemocratic and unlikely to deliver improvements in patient care. We need a U-turn from the Government.’ 

Unite
Unite said the Bill is ‘a charter for private profit at the expense of patients care’.

Unite’s national officer for health, David Fleming, said: ‘It is clear that one of the biggest influences on Tory ideology regarding health policy has been the massive and insidious lobbying by the  private healthcare companies, which have opened their cheque books for David Cameron big-time.’

He added: ‘The GP consortia, the supposed vanguard of this so-called reform programme, will be juggling financial decisions with the help of the private healthcare companies they will buy-in, versus the needs of their patients – this is a stark conflict of interest. Patients should always come first.’

The Nuffield Trust
The Nuffield Trust said the planned reforms are ‘broadly in the right direction’ but they will have to be judged on the extent to which they deliver – with minimum disruption – sustained improvements to patient care during a period of major financial challenge for the NHS.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, director of the Nuffield Trust, said: ‘The NHS is at a fork in the road. It embarks on this period of reform with much strength but the pressures it faces over the next four years will continue to rise.

‘Given the reforms over the past 20 years the Government’s decision to devolve more responsibility to the front line is logical. However, this approach carries significant risks in today’s financial climate and needs to be managed very carefully.’

General Healthcare Group
General Healthcare Group, the UK’s largest private hospital group, welcomed the proposed reforms and said it was ‘only right’ the NHS, private and third sector providers worked together in austere times.

Adrian Fawcett, chief executive of General Healthcare Group, said: ‘In our view, the challenge for instituting these reforms will be about maintaining the pace of change and how instability during the period of transition is minimised.’

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Allowing GP consortia to commission maternity services will impede creation of a high-quality service, warns the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

RCOG president Dr Tony Falconer said: ‘Our concern, at all times, must be that the women in our care have access to the best available services and RCOG will be monitoring standards as well as supporting their development.’

The King’s Fund
The Bill signals the biggest shake-up of the NHS since its inception, the King’s Fund has said.

Chris Ham, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said: ‘The last decade has seen significant progress in the performance of the NHS. While ministers are right to stress the need for reform to make it truly world class, these gains are at risk from the combination of the funding squeeze and the speed and scale of the reforms as currently planned.’

Mr Ham added: ‘But, while the government’s reforms have the potential to improve the NHS, they will be implemented against the backdrop of the biggest financial challenge in its history.

‘Finding the £20bn in efficiency savings needed to maintain services must be the overriding priority, so the very real risk that the speed and scale of the reforms could destabilise the NHS and undermine care must be actively managed.’

NHS Confederation
The NHS Confederation urged MPs to ‘forensically analyse’ the Health Bill.

NHS Confederation acting chief executive Nigel Edwards said: ‘We support the objectives behind this legislation but there are huge risks and major uncertainties associated with it.

‘The system is already geared up for change and we can not afford for these reforms to fail – the public will not forgive us. The focus in parliament has to be on making this work on behalf of patients.’

CBI
John Cridland, CBI director-general designate, said: ‘We support the Government’s plans to modernise the NHS, because this will lead to better services for patients, and ensure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.

‘Allowing the best provider to deliver healthcare services, whether they are a private company or a charity, will spur innovation and choice. But bidders must be able to compete for contracts on a level playing field.’

Pharmacy Voice
Pharmacist union Pharmacy Voice believes the focus on GP-led commissioning risks overlooks the contribution of other healthcare professionals.

Pharmacy Voice chief executive Rob Darracott, said: ‘The NHS is about more than doctors, and GP commissioning has to be about more than GPs. The Health Secretary acknowledges that pharmacists have an important and expanding role in supporting better health, but we now need to see his words backed by action. Pharmacists see more people, more often, even than GPs do.’

In the final part of her investigation into the cuts, Amelia Gentleman reports on a proposal which charities say could trap some disabled people inside their care homes

• Amelia Gentleman
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 January 2011 18.39 GMT
• Article history

Over the last two months Louisa Spivack has written to the prime minister, to the chancellor, to Iain Duncan Smith, secretary of state for work and pensions, to Maria Miller, minister for disabled people, and to equalities minister Lynne Featherstone, warning them that a planned cut to the benefits received by her severely disabled sons will drastically reduce their quality of life, confining them permanently to their care home.

So far, she has received an impersonal, printed postcard from the prime minister’s office, informing her that her concerns have been passed on to the relevant authorities, and an automated email telling her that ministers are too busy to deal with her comments in person. She is both furious and distraught.

“They are targeting a section of society who are unable to defend themselves in any way at all. That seems to me immoral and cowardly,” she says.

A brief line on page 69 of the comprehensive spending review in October announced that the mobility component of the disability living allowance (DLA) would be removed from people living in residential care. The benefit reduction was not explained in George Osborne’s speech to parliament, where he outlined the scope of the cuts, and subsequently has not attracted much attention amid the myriad of changes announced that day.

To anyone who has no professional or personal connection with caring for people with disabilities, it is an arcane benefit, apparently easy to snip, its title giving no hint of the devastating consequences that could accompany the cut.

Trapped

But disability charities are so aghast at the decision that they have questioned whether ministers fully understood the significance of the change they were making. They are lobbying hard to educate MPs, explaining that, for the disabled people who receive it, the allowance represents the difference between being institutionalised, trapped inside their care home for the rest of their lives, or being able to travel to see friends and family, and to participate in society beyond the care home gates.

The DLA mobility component helps to meet some of the extra costs disabled people face when they travel. The government proposes to remove it for those who are living in residential care, affecting the independence of 60,000 to 80,000 people with disabilities.

“Before the election we were assured by David Cameron and George Osborne that the most vulnerable people in society would not be affected by the benefit cuts,” Spivack says, adding that she had believed Cameron’s own experience of parenting a severely disabled child would make him sensitive to the needs of others in a similar position.

“There was an idea, years ago, that people like my sons should not be seen or heard. This will take us back to a time when people like them were confined to homes,” she says.

Her two sons, Daniel, 34, and Joel, 25, are both severely autistic, and live in a care home in Sussex catering specifically for people on the autistic spectrum. They are living far from their parents’ home in north London (where they were cared for until they left school) because there were no good specialist homes with places for them any closer. Neither of them speak, but Danny is more severely disabled than his younger brother, diagnosed with epilepsy, curvature of the spine, and a prolapsed disc that leads to periods when he cannot move. Both sons receive the higher rate of the mobility allowance, £49.85 a week, a reflection of the seriousness of their disabilities.

Danny’s behaviour disturbs other residents at the home, so he is unable to travel with them. The DLA mobility component has helped fund a car exclusively for his use, which his carers use to take him for daily walks in the nearby forests, regular swimming sessions and all his doctors’ appointments.

Without his own car it would simply be impractical for him to leave the home, his mother says. If his routine is disrupted Danny can get anxious and a bit aggressive, she explains. He is unable to use public transport, and even if he could, the care home in Sussex is in a rural area, not close to a bus stop. When he has travelled by bus in the past, Spivack says, other passengers have been upset by him, and he is equally distressed by the noise of other people.

“The public is more accepting of young children with disabilities than they are of adults with disabilities. Since he got big and noisy, the public don’t like it,” she says. “It can be quite a painful experience to be in a noisy environment. The sound of a baby crying really upsets Danny. He can’t be taken out with other people. He doesn’t like the close proximity to others.”

The car he uses at the moment has been fitted with a seat right at the back, with seatbelts designed both to support his back and to restrain him. “He has to sit at the back of the vehicle because he has a tendency to take his T-shirt off and flick it at the driver,” Spivack says. “If he didn’t have his car, he wouldn’t be able to go walking or swimming, his health would deteriorate. He would be depressed. He would be stuck on site.”

The government says the allowance will be removed in October 2012 because it duplicates money already allocated by local authorities to care homes to fund transport. Charities and opposition MPs say this does not take into account the funding shortages already being experienced by care homes and local authorities, and warn that there will not be enough money in local authority budgets to provide the required transport.

The money allocated to Spivack’s younger son has gone towards financing the care home’s shared vehicle, as he is better able to travel with other residents. “The government says local authorities should fund communal vehicles. But local authorities are so cash-strapped – how are they going to be able to finance it? Consequently there are going to be lots of people like Danny and Joel who are going to be housebound,” Spivack says. “If [the benefit] is going to be withdrawn it will take away their only enjoyment in life.”

Describing the decision as “callous”, Richard Hawkes, the chief executive of the disability charity Scope, questioned its fairness. “Disabled people and their families do not have ‘broad shoulders’, so why are they bearing the brunt of these cuts?” he asked.

In a statement, the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Currently some people in residential care receive support for their mobility needs through disability living allowance and mobility support funded by their local authority. We want to remove that duplication and make sure that the system is fair. These changes won’t come into effect until October 2012 and we will continue to work with disabled people and organisations to ensure benefits meet the needs of disabled people. The government expects that the cut will save £135m a year by 2014-15.”

But Tom Madders, head of campaigns at the National Autistic Society, says: “For a relatively small saving to the Treasury the removal of this benefit will greatly reduce the quality of life and autonomy of a significant group of people who are already marginalised in society.”

For the moment, this is a cut that the disability charities are very worried about, but one that has not yet become a source of more widespread outrage. But campaigners warn that this issue, coupled with the broader cuts to disability benefits, is likely to trigger visible and noisy protests this year.

The decision to reassess claimants’ eligibility for DLA more generally is likely to mean that more than half a million disabled people will lose some or all of the benefit, says Neil Coyle, director of policy with the Disability Alliance. “Coalition cuts to welfare are not well targeted and will affect even people with severe health conditions and disabled people with multiple impairments, leaving the disproportionately worst off now to suffer further as the cuts take effect.”

Campaigners are concerned that, as well as disrupting daily routines, the removal of the benefit will prevent care home residents from spending time at home with their families.

Tahira Khan-Sindhu’s son Hamzah was born at 27 weeks. Now 22, he has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, learning disabilities, no speech and is doubly incontinent. She and her husband cared for him at home until he was 18, when, reluctantly, they moved him into a care home about an hour’s bus ride away from their home on the outskirts of Manchester.

Forgotten

Since the move she has been anxious that he should not feel he has been consigned there permanently, forgotten by his relatives. She has used the mobility allowance to help finance a van that can accommodate a wheelchair, so she can take him home for regular visits.

“I don’t want him to think that he’s there and that’s it. He is very excited when he comes home. He meets the extended family, he meets up with my parents, he has cousins, nephews, nieces, and they all shower so much love over him,” she says. Without the allowance, the care home would not be able to spare the communal vehicle to ferry him home. He would not be able to travel by public transport and the cost of a taxi would be prohibitive.

“The place where he lives does not have enough vehicles. Six people live there, all reliant on one vehicle. The care home doesn’t have the funds. They are being cut,” she says.

Kate Green, Khan-Sindhu’s Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, says it is unrealistic to expect these costs to be met by stretched local authorities. “People in residential care are more likely to have highly specialised, costly transport needs,” she says.

“If this benefit is withdrawn it will become impossible for many of them to get out when they want to, visit family and friends, or even make trips to the shops. They’ll be prisoners in their own homes.”

The charity Mencap was so surprised by the decision to remove the benefit that it suggests that the government has failed to appreciate how important it is. “We believe that the government has made a mistake and has misunderstood how people use this important benefit. Without this vital lifeline, people in care will lose their independence, be unable to take part in activities that they enjoy and be cut off from their friends and family,” the charity says.

“We are very concerned that, as an unintended consequence of this proposal, many people with a learning disability will be denied opportunities to meet with friends and families, participate in external social activities and engage with their local communities.”

A group of charities published a report yesterday, Don’t Limit Mobility, setting out their concerns about the cut, arguing that local authorities are in no position to meet the shortfall, and warning that the impact on those who receive the allowance will be “massive”, “with many left unable to afford to leave their home, and denied the independence most people take for granted”.

At her home in Old Trafford, Khan-Sindhu gives vent to a rush of fury. “I know that the government faces hard decisions, but what about the children? Where is their quality of life? My son can’t say ‘I want to go and see my mum and dad – I’ll take the train or I’ll walk.’

“He is being penalised for being disabled. Where are his human rights? Where is his dignity?”

TEST RESULTS

hospital-guide-2010

It is 10 years since the first Dr Foster Hospital Guide was published. In some ways much has
changed in 10 years, but in other ways not enough has changed. A decade ago we had data
on all hospital admissions, from which we compared mortality ratios and other measures.
That data is still our main source of information. We have no primary and community
care data, no private sector data and no data that shows what happens to patients over
the whole course of their illness. Excitingly, the Coalition Government seems committed
to finally addressing this issue, and the 2010 guide is in part a case for more and better
information. More on this from Roger Taylor on page 6.
The Hospital Guide has also changed over the past 10 years, although some constants
remain. We continue to publish Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMRs) but, in
addition to this, have now introduced two other ways of looking at mortality. You can find
the results on pages 16-17.
For the 2010 guide we have teamed up with leading clinicians and analysts to shine the
spotlight on three areas important to many patients: stroke, orthopaedics and urology
(see pages 18-25). And we have returned to the thorny subject of safety. The publicity
around last year’s safety index took some by surprise, but raised awareness of the risks
facing patients. This year we look back to see where there has been improvement and
where problems remain. The 2009 guide prompted some changes, including a Department
of Health task force on measuring mortality and new rules around the reporting of safety
incidents. However, we still have some way to go to get reliable data about ‘adverse events’.
We are also trying out some new ways of presenting information on our website. Visitors
to www.drfosterhealth.co.uk can now specify which aspects of patient experience matter
most to them and then find out which hospital trusts perform best on the relevant criteria.
As ever, thanks must go to all those who have helped make this year’s guide come to life,
especially the experts whose commentaries and opinions you will find throughout the
report. Thank you also to those individuals in each NHS trust who coordinated activity
around the Hospital Guide, not least in responding to our annual survey, to which 99 per
cent of trusts returned data.
The challenge we set ourselves is to produce a report which is accessible for patients and
the public and valid for clinicians and managers. This guide has been 10 years in the making
and we hope you find it stimulating and informative.

Alex Kafetz, Dr Foster

The Second Edition of WORD UP! has caused such a stir that its prompted the team to hold an open meeting to discuss the future of the Atheldene, tomorrow  from 1- 3, in the Atheldene Dining Hall. The meeting will be open to all and tea and cakes will be on offer to all those attending….. 

Voices is a action research project which Wandsworth Adult Social Services and London South Bank University has backed for a year to try and establish service users experiences during this time of change in social care.

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

Wandsworth LINk’s next open meeting is on 19th July 2010, 6 p.m at the Platt Centre Putney (details attached), the subject of the meeting will be PERSONAL BUDGETS.

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

You may be aware that CareLine is closing its website service on the 1st July 2010 and its telephone service on 1st October 2010. Information that you would previously have found on the website can now be found at Wandsworth’s new Adult Care Information Service (ACIS) – www.wandsworth.gov.uk/acis

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.

We need your ideas!

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

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