Issue 7 - Halton LINk Newsletter

www.haltonlink.org.uk01928 592405

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Opening Hours

Issue 7 - December 2010

Halton LINkNEWSLETTER

Access to GP Services Survey The Lunch Bunch

The Lunch Bunch is a Dementia support

group for carers and the cared for. Come

along and join them at Murdishaw

Community Centre, Runcorn (01928

718285) every Tuesday, 12 noon – 3.00pm

for Lunch, Quizzes, Games, Fun and

Laughter, Guest visits and Outings, Carer

support information.

• SupportedbyHaltonBoroughCouncil

• FeaturedonHaltonCommunityRadio92.3FM

A recently published report by Foundation Trust Network had said the NHS could save £600m by moving appointment booking to ‘regional or national GP appointment centres’. The General Practitioners Committee (GPC), has dismissed the plans as having ‘no validity’ and said the system would put a barrier between patients and their GPs. The committee said the idea would probably increase NHS costs, rather than make savings as suggested.

Findings in a survey just published by the Halton LINk showed that over 90% of local people questioned would prefer to speak directly to their local GP practice rather than having to use a central call centre to book appointments.

The GP Access survey was carried out by the LINk as part its workplan priorities for 2010. A copy of the survey can be downloaded from www.haltonlink.org.uk.

Consultations

There are currently a number of national and local consultations taking place which you can access through the LINk website - www.haltonlink.org.uk/consultations.

The NHS Constitution and WhistleblowingConsultation Deadline - 11th January 2011

Liberating the NHS: Greater choice and controlConsultation Deadline - 14th January 2011

An Information RevolutionConsultation Deadline - 14th January 2011

How will Halton look in 2026Consultation Deadline -24th January 2011

The future funding of social careConsultation Deadline -28th January 2011

Transparency in Outcomes - A framework for Adult Social ServicesConsultation Deadline - 9th February 2011

Disability Living Allowance ReformConsultation Deadline - 14th February 2011

Healthy lives, healthy people: our strategy for public health in EnglandConsultation Deadline - 8th March 2011

NHS Halton & St Helens will be carrying out a Patient & Public Consultation on Windmill Hill Access Centre, 416 Eastwood, Windmill Hill, Runcorn WA7 6LJ on the following dates:

Tues 11 Jan 2011, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm and Wed 12 Jan 2011 from 10.00 am -1.00 pmIf you have ever accessed the centre or are currently accessing the centre, the Patient & Public Involvement Team would like to hear your views, thoughts and experiences on the service you have received.For further information, please contact the PPI Team on 0151 495 5108 or email [email protected]

Windmill Hill Access Centre

Halton LINk 2010

2010 has been a very busy year at the LINk, and 2011 promises to be an even busier time. Highlights of 2010 for the LINk include:

• Over 600 local people and organisations now signed up as members of the LINk

• ‘Dignity Matters’ event in February helped raise the profile of the national Dignity in Care Campaign locally

• The Halton Dignity Champions Network held a ‘Dignity Matters’ follow-up event in September to respond to our recommendations

• Our ‘Fact or Fiction’ events continue to help inform local people on their local health & social care services

• The ‘HAL’ newsletter ‘Hal’ newsletter now has a distribution, via post, email and online downloads/readers, in excess of 800

• Enter & View team members recruited and trained ready to start visits in the New Year

• Held regular consultation events throughout the year to give local people the chance to have their say on local and national issues

• LINk sub-groups carry out work on ‘Dementia, ‘Depression’ and ‘Access to services’

• LINk outreach officer held numerous drop-in sessions at community centres and shopping areas across the borough

To find out more about the work of the LINk during 2010, go to www.haltonlink.org.uk

Are you a breast, bowel or lung cancer survivor?

They are on the look out for local people who would like to share their unique story of surviving either breast, bowel or lung cancer with the hope it well help others to understand the crucial message that early detection saves lives.

Over the last three years the Health Improvement Team (a joint partnership between NHS Halton and St Helens and St Helens Council) has run the ‘Get checked’ programme with great success. The campaign has seen increases in patient referrals with suspicious symptoms rise by up to 82% locally.

In order to continue the on-going achievements and results ‘Get checked’ is having, it is important to evolve the way the current campaign hits the lives of the people living in Halton and St Helens.

Anna Nygaard, Head of Health Improvement and Marketing, said “Sadly many lives are still lost each year due to people going to see their GP when the cancer is in its later stage and treatment is more difficult.

“Our ’Get checked’ message is simple; early detection of cancer saves lives.

“To help us take our campaign to the next level, we believe local breast, bowel and lung cancer survivors, who are willing to share their own personal experience with local people, will be the springboard for others to seek early medical help.”

If cancer is presented to a doctor during its early stage, treatments are simpler and more effective. ‘Get checked’ encourages local people to know what the signs and symptoms of breast, bowel and lung cancer are, and to ‘get checked’ by a GP if they have them.Understanding and hearing local stories from breast, bowel and lung cancer survivors will further help not only the ‘Get checked’ programme, but could also prove to be a crucial part in getting other local people to understand cancer first hand from an actual cancer survivor.Anyone living in Halton/St Helens wishing to share their experience of surviving breast, bowel or lung cancer please contact either Kerry Grimes or Mike Baker of the Health Improvement Team on 0300 300 01031 or email [email protected] willing to share their personal story will be able to decide how their story or message will be used locally. This could range from using their story anonymously to being part of the main campaign rolled out locally in January 2011 – and the team will be sensitive to the person’s wishes at all times.These local cancer survival stories could help to save someone’s life by triggering them to seek medical help if they are showing any of the key breast, bowel and lung cancer symptoms.

Do you need help to meet the costs of cancer?

When you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with cancer, money might not be one of the first things you think about. But having cancer can be expensive. You may have to pay for a special diet, child care or travel to hospital. You may also have to meet expenses from a reduced household income..

If you are having problems coping with the financial impact of cancer, remember that there is help available to all residents of Halton.

The Macmillan Welfare Rights Service offers free, confidential benefits advice

and assistance to people affected by cancer (patients, their families and carers).

A Macmillan Welfare Rights Officer can visit you at home or arrange to see you at a Halton Direct Link. Appointments can be made via telephone 0151 471 7448, or by calling into a Halton Direct Link situated in:

• Brook Street, Widnes

• Queens Avenue, Ditton, Widnes

• Halton Lea, Runcorn

• Church Street, Runcorn

E-mail: [email protected]

The local NHS is preparing to launch a major push in its award winning ‘Get checked’ early detection of cancer programme in January 2011.

Halton LINk is looking for members of the community in Halton to join its ‘Enter and View Team’.

The role would involve visiting publicly funded health and social care premises, such as hospitals, GP surgeries, dental surgeries and adult care homes, and assessing how they are running. This is part of LINk’s on going work to improve health and social care services for everyone in the Halton.

LINk is looking for people who have an interest in making a difference in their local community and who are comfortable interacting with both people who use services and the professionals that provide them. The aim of the visits is for authorised people to observe the service provided and report the findings back to service providers and those that commission services so that improvements may be made where appropriate.

The Enter and View programme comes under the ‘Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007,’ which enables LINks to carry out this role. As such, volunteers would receive free training and undergo a CRB (Criminal Bureau Records) check to ensure they are suitable for the job of visiting, assessing and reporting back on services.

For more information or to register your interest in becoming a volunteer telephone 01928 592405 or email [email protected]. You can also find out more on our website www.haltonlink.org.uk.

To become an a member of the Enter & View Team you must complete a self-assessment form which is available to download from our website or, alternatively, can be requested from a member of the LINk Support Team by telephoning 01928 592405, meet with members of the LINk Support for an informal interview, undergo an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check and complete the Enter and View training.

Volunteers needed

Web Snippets

An inspection team from CQC visited Halton in September to find out how well the Council and its partners were delivering adult social care. To do this, the inspection team looked at how well Halton was:

• Safeguarding adults whose circumstances made them vulnerable

• Improving the health and wellbeing of older people, and

• Increasing choice and control for older people.

In respect of the three areas outlined above CQC concluded that Halton was :

• performing excellently in safeguarding adults

• performing well in supporting improved health and wellbeing of older people

• performing excellently in supporting increased choice and control for older people.

CQC concluded that the capacity to improve in Halton was excellent. Again, the top grading that CQC can award.

The work of the Halton Carers’ Centre

was also highlighted in the report with the Carers’ Centre being ‘highly valued’.

The Halton LINk helped publicise theCQC inspection among people who used services and we would like to thank all those who took the time to come along to the public forum that was arranged at the Stobart Stadium.

Some highlights of the inspectors’ comments on the LINk in the report included:

‘The Local Involvement Network (LINk) was well-developed and positively contributed to improvement activity in a number of areas.’

‘The LINk was actively involved alongside senior managers and elected members in work to address a range of health and social care issues that mattered to local people. Their ‘Fact or Fiction’ events provided an important means of ensuring local people got clear messages about national and local policy changes and the implications for them.’

A copy of the report can be downloaded at www.haltonlink.org.uk

Vulnerable adults and older people in Halton are receiving ‘excellent’ care and are more likely to stay safe in their homes for longer, with a better quality of life according to a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

CQC ‘Excellent ‘ rating for adult social care

PCT debts likely to written off

New GP consortia will not have to take on PCT debts, with these costs likely to be completely written off by the government. - www.gponline.com/news/1044452/PCT-debts-likely-written-off

Dr Foster Hospital Guide published

This year’s Hospital Guide covers deaths in hospital, stroke, orthopaedic care, urological care and the recording of safety incidents, particularly blood clots. The guide can be downloaded from www.drfosterhealth.co.uk/docs/hospital-guide-2010.pdf

Call for new NHS end of life role

An independent review says the NHS in England has failed to take clear responsibility for ensuring good end of life care.www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11902757

Choose well this winter

During winter, more people get ill or are injured than at other times of the year. This means the services provided by the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the wider NHS are needed more than ever. The Choose Well campaign aims to boost public awareness about the NHS services available to them.

http://tiny.cc/3m0yo

Halton LINk, Halton & St. Helens VCA, Sefton House, Public Hall Street, Runcorn WA7 1NGTel: 01928 592405 email: [email protected] web: www.haltonlink.org.uk

Halton LINk is hosted by Halton & St Helens Voluntary Community ActionRegistered Charity No. 1106001 and a Company Limited by Guarantee No. 2539153.

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