September—October 2014
Newsletter
HEALTHWATCH NEL—SEPTEMBER—OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2014 September—October Newsletter 2014 Join us and read on to find out what we have in store for September & October 2014
CONTENT
Page 1
Welcome Discharge Arrangements
Page 2
Partner Arrangements
Friendship at Home
Page 3
Healthy Lives Healthy Futures (HLHF)
Page 4
East Midlands Ambulance Service
Page 5
Office Staffing
Page 6
Volunteering
Page 7
Meet the team
Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Welcome
We welcome Michael as the latest recruit to our Board. Michael writes: Born and educated in Grimsby, I have lived in Cleethorpes all my life. I have over 23 years’ experience in the NHS, having been a Senior Manager for the local Trust in a Technical and General Management capacity across a range of services. I am passionate about my local health services. Having worked mostly locally at Ross Foods, Youngs Seafoods, Scunthorpe Council, Laura Ashley, Grimsby Hospital, Scunthorpe Hospital and finally the new combined hospital services of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals. I am interested in the delivery of high quality health services to the community utilising the latest technology available delivered in a caring and compassionate manner. It is imperative to me that all health service inequalities are challenged. I believe Healthwatch is an organisation that can give a voice to all. I am proud to have been selected to serve on the Board for the benefit of my community.
Discharge Arrangements We have recently contributed to the national enquiry led by Healthwatch England into discharge arrangements. This enquiry looked at discharge from hospital and other establishments with particular reference to older people, mental health and homeless. Our contribution was based on some of the stories you have been telling us about, especially about unsatisfactory hospital discharge at inappropriate times and without relatives or friends knowing or without support services being put in place. We have spoken to some of our partner organisations and have highlighted some of the issues encountered when agency do not work together well and particularly the problems faced by homeless people in accessing treatment and care. You can read our submission by going to our website.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Partner arrangements The number of other organisations who have signed up to our Partner Programme has risen to nine with a few others considering joining. The Partner Programme is mainly aimed at organisations that try to speak on behalf of `seldom heard voices’ but other organisations will also be considered. Under partnering we enter into a mutual agreement to promote the other organisation’s objects and activities but Healthwatch particularly looks to opportunities to use the community contacts of the partner agency to find out people’s views on health and social care issues. You can find more details about one of our partners below in this newsletter. The Partner Programme does not suit every organisation but that does not stop them entering into partnership with Healthwatch on the basis that together we can achieve much more than by operating in isolation.
Friendship at Home Friendship at Home is a small volunteer led charity based in St. Aidan’s Vicarage in Cleethorpes. Here at Friendship at Home we provide services for individuals over the age of 60 to help reduce social isolation. We hold numerous social clubs throughout the week and also offer a one to one befriending service for those who may not be able to access our clubs. We have a new and exciting project called Independent Living. The aim of this new service is to provide low level tasks such as cleaning, preparing light meals, assisting with appointments, dog walking and gardening. If you feel you could benefit from some help with these tasks or have a spare hour a week to help please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01472 694055 or email supportworker@friendshipathome.org.uk (Please note the Independent Living Service is a chargeable service at £5 per 30 mins)
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Healthy Lives Healthy Futures (HLHF) We met with representatives of the North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group on 30 July 2014 and would want to thank the fourteen individual and partner representatives that came along to what was lively and full discussion and debate. The notes of that meeting have since been passed to those that attended and have been posted on our website. An online submission based on the points raised has been separately made.
What is Healthy Lives Healthy Futures? Healthy Lives, Healthy Futures is a review of all services in the Northern Lincolnshire region being led by North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups. The review aims to make sure the services available to people in our area will be safe and of high quality for years to come. There are going to be some important decisions to make in the coming months and HLHF want to do this with the people who live in Northern Lincolnshire and use these services. They need to look at emergency care, urgent care and planned care services which will include those delivered from hospitals, health centres and out in the community. They need to take decisions about what services should look like in future including their size, their location and their ability to deliver high quality care safely. The review launched in July 2013 with a three-month public engagement period, where HLHF shared the reasons for change, their vision and the proposed programme process. A second phase of public engagement ‘Moving the conversation on’ took place during February and March 2014. This was to communicate in more detail plans around our vision of self-care; delivering care closer to home and providing specialist hospital services. As a result of your feedback from these engagement exercises, a number of important issues were raised that HLHF will be addressing.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) mystery shoppers Do you use the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) Patient Transport Service in North East Lincolnshire, for transport to hospital appointments? If you use the service would you be willing to take part in the EMAS mystery patient programme which will provide valuable feedback to EMAS managers with a view to improving the service that they provide? Following your hospital appointment EMAS would ask you to complete forms which score how well you feel the ambulance staff have looked after you. You will be provided with some training before your hospital appointment. If you want to help EMAS to potentially improve the service they provide please contact Karen Long whose contact details are below. Please note that Karen is on holiday from 29 September to 14 October 2014 so please contact Shannon Wright (details below) who will pass on your details to Karen who will then contact you on her return. Karen Long PALS and Service Improvement Coordinator Tel: 01522 832628 Mobile: 07773793008 Email: karen.long@emas.nhs.uk Shannon Wright Nursing and Quality Administrator Tel: 0115 8845107 Email: shannon.wight@emas.nhs.uk
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Office We want you to be aware that our normal office hours are from 9.00 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 9.00 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Fridays. However, because of the nature of our work, we cannot always guarantee a presence during those hours. If you therefore plan to visit us, it may be worthwhile giving us a ring in advance to avoid disappointment. One point we wish to make clear is that we have not made any outlay in the redevelopment of 146 Freeman Street. This was all financed by Foresight and we remain tenants with them. You will also note that, as a temporary security measure, we have introduced a doorbell at the entrance to the office which you should press and one of the team will unlock the doors. This will continue at least until all the other tenants are using the building on a regular basis.
Staffing Some of you will already be aware that Karry Stones left her position as Research and Development Officer on 7 August 2014. We want to thank Karry for her contribution to the team over the last 16 months and also her previous work with LINk. We have taken the opportunity to review staffing arrangements and have been able to offer Tayo a developed role as Communications and Engagement Worker full-time but to also retain a full-time post of Project Support Officer. This post has recently been advertised internally and through partner links with a closing date for applications of 5th September and we hope to announce an appointment shortly.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Volunteering In his new role, Tayo has been reviewing the position of people who have previously expressed an interest in supporting the work of Healthwatch. We have particularly focussed on those who want to provide administrative support to the team and are very grateful for those who are starting to help us out in the office. A key area for development is around community engagement. We suspect that a lot of people are put off by that phrase `community engagement’ but it is simply about people who are willing to talk to others in part about Healthwatch but mainly to hear people’s views about their experiences of health and social care services. These stories provide the ammunition we need to identify gaps and weaknesses in current provision so that we can influence the future direction and shape of services. We are now encouraging all `Healthwatchers’ , with the exception of Board and Enter and View where specific training is required, to see themselves as volunteers with maybe a particular interest in one area but being willing to consider helping out in other areas of need like joining the staff team at events and, in time, being able to talk to individuals and groups on their own. If this is something you feel you can help with, please contact Tayo or Paul.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Contact The Team
Paul Glazebrook
Tayo Davenport
Partnership Co-ordinator
Communications & Engagement Worker
Meet The Board
Kathleen Young (Chair)
Sam O’Brien
Malcolm Morland
Jane Mansfield
Esther Smith
Michael Bateson
Sean Snelson (Co-optee)
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter September—October 2014
Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire 146 Freeman Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN32 7AN.