The Chair of Wandsworth LINk has commented on the article which appeared in yesterday’s Guardian, about Mark Clark’s resignation from Wandsworth LINk.

Roger Appleton wrote:

As the current chair, I don’t wish to comment on why Mark Clark resigned from Wandsworth LINk but I did want to clarify the policy of payment over which he said he resigned.
The policy was not to pay members for attendance at meetings but to reward health and social care service users for individual and specific tasks undertaken.
The NHS and local councils already pay service users for the work they do on service improvement. Wandsworth LINk wished only to adopt a similar approach. 
Many regular service users are disabled or with long-term health conditions which stop them earning a proper wage. Paying them for the time they contribute to health and social care improvement reflects a wish to reduce this problem and value their contribution.
As the article says, this policy has now been dropped by Wandsworth LINk because it was found to be out-of-line with other LINks and difficult to implement.

Wandsworth LINk’s decision to refer NHS Wandsworth’s plans for the Battersea polyclinic hub to the Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee was the subject of an article in the Wandsworth Guardian today. 

For the full articles please see page 5 in http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?refresh=d06W9gP1sL05&PBID=47c1cbbd-4d2d-409e-8458-8703ef40dcda

Why is the LINk is referring the NHS Wandsworth decision on the Battersea polyclinic hub to the Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee? 

 Wandsworth LINk has now sent Wandsworth Council its reasons for referring the recent NHS Wandsworth decision to create a split-site polyclinic hub for Battersea, to its health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further analysis. 

Wandsworth LINk considers the new plan to be a substantial change from the previous one and should therefore be exposed to public consultation.  The split-site service will inconvenience patients, sometimes requiring attendances at both sites to deal with a single problem.  The availability of capital finance is being given as the recent for the change of plan.  There was a solution for this in 2008.  Is that solution not available today?  For the full reasons for referral please see attached note.  The Committee will be held in public at Wandsworth Town Hall at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 16th February.

Why are Wandsworth LINk referring the NHS Wandsworth Polyclinic decision to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Good Afternoon!

We need some help getting things ready this coming Friday, 5th February for a training day we’re running the next day. The training is for members of Sister Act Leaders Team.

Sister Act Leaders Team  wants to bring more people together who will help make sure people with learning disabilities are heard, understood, encouraged and included in whats going on in Wandsworth. 

If you or anyone you know has a couple of hours this Friday between

9AM – 5PM and who likes to cut, paste, draw, paint then SEND THEM THIS WAY! We would love to have them.

£5.00 expenses, lunch, tea and coffee on offer to anyone who comes for a couple of hours

 Contact Hannah Baker 

Trident Business Centre

3rd Floor

89 Bickersteth Road

Tooting

London SW17 9SH

hannah@wandcareall.org.uk

0208 516 7716

Wands worth Care Alliance are looking for people to do the following:

Be 1-2-1 Tutors and support those with Learning difficulties in reading, writing, seaking and attedning meetings around London. Training will be provided and a CRB check is necessary.

Provide Admin Support  and help to produce flyers, minutes, agendas, mailouts and carry out general admin duties using Microsoft Word, photoshop and Access.

Work on the Newspaper and provide technical support, interview and report on relevant issues and contribute to the newspapers content and design. 

For more details and an application form please contact:

Hannah Baker on 0208 516 773  or at hannah@wandcareall.org.uk

At this morning’s PCT Board, NHS Wandsworth decided to proceed with plans for 4 polyclinic hubs across Wandsworth. Three of these hubs will offer a single-site solution for a wide range of healthcare services which currently are delivered from acute hospitals. For Battersea the solution is a dual-hub on two sites near Clapham Junction station but three quarters of a mile apart.

Wandsworth LINk consider that this proposal for Battersea is very different from what was agreed as a result of public consultation in 2008 and so is seeking the decision to be opened up for public debate. It is recommending that the PCT should consider three options: the original proposal for a purpose-built polyclinic hub on the north side of Clapham Junction station, a single-site solution using St John’s Therapy Centre or the currently proposed split-site solution.

For more details and the press release please click on the link below.

Press Release by Wandsworth Local Involvement Network,polyclinics decision

Keep your child safe from swine flu this winter

All children over six months and under five years of age in Wandsworth are now being offered the swine flu vaccine.  The under fives are most at risk from swine flu and more likely to need hospital care than any other age group.

GPs across Wandsworth are offering the vaccine and parents of eligible children will be contacted directly by their GP.

Local GP Tom Coffey said: “Even if your child is healthy, it’s extremely important to get them vaccinated again swine flu.  Children can easily catch and pass on the swine flu virus and unfortunately we’ve seen higher rates of hospitalisation in the under fives.”

“It’s impossible to know if you’re child has already had swine flu unless they’ve had a positive laboratory test for the virus.  Our advice to parents is therefore, don’t take a chance, the swine flu vaccination will keep your child safe this winter.”

The under fives are the latest group to be offered the swine flu vaccine.  The vaccine is already being offered to

• Adults and children between six months and 65 years of age in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical ‘at risk’ groups. e.g. who have a long-term health condition, including chronic lung disease and heart disease;
• Pregnant women;
• People who live in the same house as someone whose immune system is compromised by disease or treatment, and
• People aged 65 and over in the current seasonal flu vaccine clinical “at risk” groups.

For more information on swine flu, visit  www.nhs.uk or call the Swine Flu Information Line on 0800 1 513 513.