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Norfolk LINk News
New start date for Local HealthWatch!
The timetable for setting up Local HealthWatches has changed again!
The Government has announced a new start date of April 2013. There are a number of reasons for the delay but the main one is that HealthWatch England - the new national umbrella body - will not come into being until October 2012.
Meanwhile local authorities have been given a funding boost to help set up Local HealthWatches. Secretary of State Andrew Langsley has pledged £3.2million during 2012/13, while an additional £370,000 will be shared between 75 pathfinder Local HealthWatches in 2011/12, of which Norfolk is one.
Debates on the role of Local HealthWatches are also continuing. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he wants Local HealthWatches to take the lead in a new patient-led inspection regime to replace Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections. PEAT inspections, which take place at inpatient healthcare sites in England, are used as a benchmarking tool to ensure improvements are made in the non-clinical aspects of patient care such as environment and food. The new inspections, which Local HealthWatches will lead, have yet to be designed but they will, at least, cover cleanliness, food, privacy and dignity.
Members of Norfolk County Council’s Cabinet will be discussing the latest updates on the NHS reforms and the establishment of Local HealthWatch on January 23. They have been asked to agree the Terms of Reference and Membership for a ‘shadow’ Health and Wellbeing Board - which a member of Norfolk LINk will sit on - as part of the ongoing reforms. To see the agenda and reports relating to the meeting, visit:
Published 18/01/2012
LINks are Changing
Work on transforming LINks into Local HealthWatches has being in progress for over a year so now is a good time to set out what we know about how the role of LINks will change when the Local HealthWatch comes into being in October 2012. Please remember though that there are still some areas of uncertainty.
The core role of the LINk - working to achieve improvements in health and social care - will not change. We will still seek people's views on the services they receive, and tell the commissioners and providers - the organisations that decide what service are needed, design them, decide how they will be provided, buy them and provide them. And they will still have to reply to our requests for information and any reports we send them within a given period of time.
The changes to the health service will not make any difference to this. The clinical commissioning groups - the groups of GP surgeries that will commission most services in the future - have been given a lot of publicity because they are new. We will work with them in future instead of the Primary Care Trusts, but we will continue to work on improving services with all parts of the health service, including hospitals and mental health, as well as social care.
Some of the LINk's role will be strengthened. At present LINks help people to have their say when organisations are deciding how services should be provided. In future the Health Watch will be responsible for making sure that commissioners and providers involve people in designing services and deciding how they will be provided.
At present LINk representatives attend meetings of the County Council committees that scrutinise health and social care - the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel. We are not members of these but we have the right to ask questions about the services being discussed. This will continue.
But a new body - a Health and Well-Being Board - is being introduced. Its role will include ensuring that services meet the needs of local people and that they are involved in decisions about services. Under the Health Bill a HealthWatch representative will be a full member, so the HealthWatch will be at the heart of strategic decision-making.
The mew part of the HealthWatch's role will involve working with individuals. The Department of Health has introduced the concept of "No Decision About Me Without Me", which means that people will be fully involved in all aspects of decisions on the services they receive. But to take advantage of this, people need access to the right information, and to be able to understand it. The Local HealthWatch will be responsible for helping people to get that information. It will not provide the information itself but it will signpost or direct people to organisations that can give them the information and help them understand it if necessary.
The Local HealthWatch will also provide advocacy for people who wish to make a complaint about the services they receive. This will not happen until 2013. And it remains to be decided whether the County Council will ask the Local HealthWatch to provide this service or whether it will have a contract with another organisation to do the work.
And finally, those of you who were involved with the Patient and Public Involvement forums will remember that we had a national organisation. HealthWatches will have a national organisation called HealthWatch England, which will be part of the Care Quality Commission. This will provide guidance on governance. More importantly, when Local HealthWatches report issues of major concern to it, HealthWatch England will be able to ensure that the Care Quality Commission to investigate it. If several Local HealthWatches are concerned about the same issue, it may ask them to carry out research across the country to find out more.
We are already working with more closely with the Care Quality Commission locally to ensure that the services people use are safe and people are treated well.
Published 20/12/2011
Important new study on mental health services in Prisons
Norfolk LINk's Study welcomed by Stephen Fry
Britain has a prison population of some 86,000 people and recent studies suggest that between 72% and 90% of these individuals suffer with a mental health condition of one sort or another. Norfolk LINk is aware that NHS Norfolk carries out an annual needs assessment of prisoner health, including mental health services and that the Inspectorate of Prisons carries out independent inspections during which prisoners' opinions are canvassed. However, little had been done by local independent organisations to examine how prisoners' mental health needs are actually being addressed, until Norfolk Local Involvement Network (LINk) stepped in.
Led by volunteer Mark Ganderton and co-ordinated by Host Team member Karl Hills, Norfolk LINk undertook a major study of mental health services in the prisons of Norfolk & Waveney by engaging with the prisoners themselves and seeking their opinions.
The final report, based on prisoners' comments, is available to view on our website. Click here to view reports.
Some of the principal findings of the report are that:
Norfolk LINk recognises that as part of an officer's entry level training, there is a session on mental health. However, all prison officers would benefit from enhanced training to help recognise and respond to mental health conditions;
- Improved access to counselling services is required with continuation in the community, post-release, to help prevent reoffending;
- As an alternative to medication, Norfolk LINk would like to see the implementation of psychological therapies that could continue once a prisoner is released into the community;
- A service user forum for prisoners should be established with involvement from Norfolk
Published 20/10/2011
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital Staff Honoured
Twenty individuals and teams from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital received awards at the Patient Choice Awards in the Forum on Friday night (October 7th). There were over 500 entries with staff nominated in the main by patients and their families. The prize-giving involved 14 categories, including Volunteer of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and Unsung Hero.
Rachel Fromings, a ward sister on the critical care complex won the Patient Choice Individual award for organising and training carers to come to the hospital, procuring a wheelchair and a voice box to help cope with Richard Smibert's needs and assist him to become more independant. Richard spent 11 months at the unit after suffering major brain injuries. The award winnner was nominated by Amanda Poole, Richard's mother.
Published 10/10/2011
Over 50s get a new voice in Breckland
Older people from across Breckland attended the launch of a group giving thousands of people a stronger voice within the community. The event at the district council's office at Dereham, to celebrate the creation of the Breckland Older Person's Forum, was attended by over 50 people as well as councillors, stallholders and guest speakers.
Anyone aged over 50, or people interested in issues which affect the elderly, can join the independant group whose members will be able to speak with delegates from organisations, including the NHS, the fire service, the Alzheimer's Society and trading standards. Across the county there are similar groups in the Broaland, west Norfolk, Great Yarmouth, south Norfolk and Norwich areas.
Emily Millington-Smith, Norfolk LINk Operational Committee member and chairman of Norfolk Older People's Forum said: "I'm pleased there are people from the periphery of Breckland. It means it is not a closed community."
For more information about the forum contact Mrs Apps-Green on 01362 656870 or email laura.apps-green@breckland.gov.uk.
Published 07/10/2011