Other initiatives

The Registered Care Providers Association (RCPA) provides support to care and support provider organisations across Somerset. RCPA members deliver care and support to a broad range of individuals, including older people, people with disabilities, mental health support needs and complex needs.

The RCPA provides a range of services that:

• support member organisations in their development and sustainability;

• facilitate and promote the development of evidence-based good practice; and

• influence stakeholders in the sector in relation to funding, regulation, legislation and strategic direction.

The RCPA provides an invaluable gateway, helping the exchange of information and ideas and fostering best practice amongst members. Acting as a voice for care providers, the RCPA aims to represent the views of all members, bringing their concerns and queries to the attention of service commissioners as The RCPA works in partnership with other agencies and organisations to ensure the continued provision of high-quality care in Somerset. This is delivered through regular conferences and seminars, newsletters and briefings. Members are marked with an RCPA throughout the listings in this Directory.

Amongst the Association’s aims is the wish to represent the interests, views and concerns of people involved with providing care in the Somerset area.

The RCPA also aims to provide members easy access to information and advice on any matter relevant to the provision of care, to develop, monitor and evaluate care strategy and policy and to disseminate information to members.

For details about joining the Registered Care Providers Association, please contact: Tel: 01823 351630 Email: admin@rcpa.org.uk Web: www.rcpa.org.uk

‘Tell Us Once’ service

A free and simple service to help you tell us that someone has died.

When someone has died, there are a lot of people who need to be told, at a time when you probably feel least like doing it. Our Registration Service provides a service which we hope will make things easier for you. It means that when you tell us about a death, we can then contact other organisations on your behalf.

After someone has died, one of the first things that must be done is to legally register the death with our Registration Service. Once that’s done, several other organisations may still need to be contacted and given the same information. To save you time and worry, we offer a free service which can pass this information directly to a number of other Government departments and local council services.

All registration offices in Somerset will automatically offer the ‘Tell Us Once’ service when you make an appointment to register a death. You can find contact details and opening hours for all of the registration offices in Somerset at:

www.somerset.gov.uk/births-ceremonies-and-

deaths/registration-contact-and-bookings or you can phone: 0300 123 2224 for information about your local office. The website here: www.somerset.

gov.uk/births-ceremonies-and-deaths/tell-us-

once tells you more about what information you will need to give us to register a death, and the services involved in the ‘Tell Us Once’ partnership.

Anyone can phone 111 to access urgent healthcare services. The free number is available all day, every day to respond to people’s healthcare needs when:

• they need medical help fast, but it’s not a 999 emergency;

• they don’t know who to call for medical help or they don’t have a GP;

• they think they need to go to accident and emergency or another NHS urgent care service; or

• they require health information or reassurance about what to do next.

When you phone, you will talk with a highly trained call adviser, supported by experienced nurses. The adviser will use a clinical assessment system and ask questions to assess your needs and work out the most appropriate course of action.

For example, callers who:

• are facing an emergency will have an ambulance sent without delay;

• can care for themselves will be given information, advice and reassurance;

• need further care or advice will be referred to a service that has the appropriate skills and resources to meet their needs, for example, a pharmacy or their GP; or

• need services outside the scope of NHS 111 will be told about an alternative service.

Healthwatch Somerset

Healthwatch Somerset is the local consumer champion for people of all ages, taking equal account of health and social care issues.

Its work includes:

• actively consulting with and listening to what local people think about health and social care services;

• supporting volunteers to conduct ‘Enter and View’ visits of health and care facilities; and

• creating clear and timely information about what is working well and what needs to change, to enable stakeholders to make necessary changes.

Healthwatch Somerset has a statutory place on the Health and Wellbeing Board, sharing evidence and feedback on what people think about their health and social care services, to make sure that they meet the needs of, and are shaped by, local communities.

Healthwatch can tell services about service-user experiences of care and hold them to account; it can also enter and view services such as care homes and hospitals, observe what is happening and report back to commissioners. People can feel excluded from services, which is why Healthwatch also has a signposting function to navigate the health and social care system. Healthwatch Somerset is independent, transparent, accountable and powerful, with the strength of the law and the national influence of Healthwatch England behind it.

The Healthwatch Somerset service is run by Evolving Communities CIC, a community interest company.

Healthwatch Somerset

Woodlands House, Woodlands Business Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater TA6 4FJ Tel: 01278 264405 Email: info@healthwatchsomerset.co.uk Web: www.healthwatchsomerset.co.uk