Hackney LINk Seeks Your Feedback On Priorities
Hackney LINk have been collecting issues from the community on health and adult social care services in the borough since May 2009. Hackney LINk Steering Group have finalised the four priorities and Working Groups which are:
Adult Social Care Working Group
To improve the quality of home care services delivered by care workers in Hackney
Primary Care Working Group
To improve the public voice in the development of primary care services, including access to services for asylum seekers.
Secondary Care Working Group
Improving mental health services through better care planning and ensuring that the system is not over-representative of certain communities.
Acute Services Working Group
To ensure that there is public involvement into the Health 4 North East London Acute Services Proposals.
Working Groups will do research around these prioritised issues and will consult with local communities, to find out about your experiences and suggestion on how these services should be improved.
- Would you be interested in joining a Working Group?
- Do you have any experiences or recommendations around these issues?
Please contact us on 020 8510 1972 to let us know.
City and Hackney Mental Health - Relocation of Some Inpatient Services
East London NHS Foundation Trust is consulting with local people about proposals to build a new mental health inpatient unit on part of the St Leonard’s Hospital site.
You can download the public consultation document here.
The consultation will run from Monday 16 November 2009 to Monday 15 February 2010.
See consultations page for more information
Public consultation launched on future of health services in north east London
A major public consultation on the future of health services in north east London was launched today (30 November) and will continue for 14 weeks until 8 March 2010.
The consultation will give local residents, patients, stakeholders and other interested organisations an opportunity to give their views on new proposals to significantly improve healthcare in their local communities.
The review, called Health for north east London, covers seven London Boroughs (Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest) and the City of London Corporation.
The Health for north east London review builds on the successful Healthcare for London: Consulting the Capital consultation in 2007 and the review of stroke and trauma services earlier in 2009.
Both of these reviews set out an ambitious vision to transform healthcare and health services across the capital and the consultation will look at how this could best be implemented in north east London.
The plans in north east London support Healthcare for London’s pledge to deliver more of the care people use most of the time closer to where they live. They will also ensure that services are more accessible and that they are provided by the most appropriately skilled staff. The quality of the most specialised care will be improved by concentrating services and specialist staff in designated hospitals.
The proposals for the public consultation was approved last Tuesday (24 November) by the two north east London Joint Committees of Primary Care Trusts (JCPCTs) following an eight month pre-consultation process. During this period the plans have been developed and discussed with local doctors, patients, residents and other stakeholders.
A consultation document and questionnaire is available here.
Please See consultations page for more information
Annual performance assessment for adult social care services
The annual performance assessment for adult social care services in Hackney was published by the Care Quality Commission on 1 December and rates the council as performing excellently.
Further information can be obtained from the website of the Care Quality Commission.
Annual Health Check
The rating of NHS City and Hackney for the overall quality of its services has dropped in the Annual Health Check.
The ratings for the performance of local trusts in 2008/09 were published by the Care Quality Commission on 15 October.
Ida Scoullos, Chair of Hackney LINk, expressed concern about the way the trust was presenting the results to the public.
She said: “There seems to be a whiff of complacency about NHS City and Hackney’s reaction to these results. I am concerned that its rating for overall quality of services has dropped from ‘good’ to ‘fair’. I hope that the local health scrutiny commission will look into this.”
Mrs Scoullos said she was particularly concerned by the regulator’s view that "The proportion of patients who were not satisfied with their ability to book a suitable appointment with their GP was too high.".
She said: “It is clear that on the basis of patients' responses NHS City and Hackney scored worse on GP waiting times than other trusts. Local GPs do a great job but the LINk wants to work with NHS City and Hackney to ensure that access to GP services is improved.”
Further information about the ratings for local trusts can be obtained from the website of the Care Quality Commission using the links below.
NHS City and Hackney
Homerton Hospital Foundation Trust
East London Foundation Trust
Hackney LINk has Moved!
Hackney LINk has moved into a new office along with other staff from our host organisation Social Action for Health. We are now based at 1-9 Sidworth Street, (entrance is on Mentmore Terrace), Hackney E8 3SD map. This purpose built new office has excellent facilities including meeting room facilities which will be available in the near future for voluntary groups to rent. We are also fully DDA compliant, with a lift to the first floor where we are based. Our telephones are now live, the main Hackney LINk office number is 020 8510 1972.
Hackney LINk Elects New Chair
At the first meeting of the newly elected Hackney LINk Steering Group a new Chair was elected, namely Ida Scoullos who has lived in Hackney for 32 years. Ida has a lot of experience of directly working at a grassroots level with local people on healthcare issues and is an active health guide, self–management tutor and a trained counsellor. Ida is also very involved in her local community and is the Chair of her local Tenants and Residents Association and works with young people in her local youth club.
Ida said “I am committed and driven to make Hackney LINk fulfil its role, to enable local people to monitor, influence and change the way our local NHS and adult social care services are planned, developed, purchased and delivered in Hackney.
We are independent of both the Local Authority and the NHS and we have a strong team of steering group members, staff and our host organisation Social Action for Health, all of whom are committed to making a real impact on local NHS and social care services. As Chair I will make sure I am well informed and take a direct role in monitoring and influencing change for the benefit of all Hackney residents and service users. I would also like to thank the previous Steering Group and the previous Chair, Shirley Murgraff for all of their hard work.
Shirley Murgraff and Michael Vidal were also elected as the two Vice Chairs for Hackney LINk.
Ida Scoullos, new Chair of Hackney LINk
Complete a Survey and be in with a chance to Win!!
If you live in Hackney or you are a voluntary or community group operating in Hackney, then we need to hear your views. Please complete our survey and tell us what you think about health and / or social care in Hackney. This is your chance to influence the areas which Hackney LINk will work on in to improve Hackney’s services.
Give us feedback on your personal or your group’s experiences, views and ideas so that we can tell service providers and commissioners what they need to change.
What are the three changes that you would like to see in Health Services in Hackney?
What three changes would you like to see in adult social care services in hackney including learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health services or older people’s services?
Please complete the survey . If you enter you could receive £25 worth of vouchers if your form is chosen. The survey can be accessed by clicking here.
Hackney LINk Tuberculosis (TB) Working Group seeks new members
Hackney LINk TB working group are looking for new members to join them and help take forward their work. If you are affected by TB or have an interest in TB services and have a couple of hours to spare each month then we’d like to hear from you. Full training will be provided.
The TB Working Group are trying to establish why Hackney has such high rates of TB - sometimes called "poor TB indicators" - and there are many reasons why this might be. The diversity of Hackney is often said by service providers to be the chief factor, but could improvements be made to local services to better suit the diverse needs of local people? And what are others elsewhere doing better, because other places are diverse too? Is all the guidance being implemented correctly and is the guidance still fit for purpose? These are some of the questions the group will be seeking to answer.
For the last six months the group has been "fact finding", gathering evidence of how services are commissioned, designed and delivered across London. In the next phase of work they will seek to hear from those who have used local TB services to see how they get on with them. Later this year they will look to identify strengths and weaknesses in the services and make recommendations on how they might be improved.
The TB Working Group is part of a larger picture for Hackney LINk concerning how local people can comment on and influence how local services are designed and delivered. As a new organisation part of our work is about gaining the trust of service providers in order to influence them - and for many of these, finding a way to allow meaningful public involvement is a new challenge, amongst the very many challenges they face in a very challenging borough. It's the aim of the TB Working Group to develop excellent working relationships with them to the benefit of all in Hackney.
To register your interest, please contact us on info@hackneylink.org.uk or call us on 020 7275 2745.
Nurse counselling service
East London NHS Foundation Trust has admitted to failings in its handling of the closure of the Nurse Counselling Service at St Bart’s.
The service, which provided psychological therapy for residents of the borough, was closed in July. Shirley Murgraff, Chair of Hackney LINk, wrote to the Trust in June expressing concern about the lack of consultation over the closure.
A meeting of the Health in Hackney Scrutiny Commission in July heard strong condemnation of the Trust’s actions from a former user of the service. The Chair of the Committee, Councillor Jonathan McShane, suggested that consultation had been poor or non-existent.
The Trust argues that the closure was a relatively small change within the context of a growing psychological therapy service. It says that the development of a new service in primary care will enable local residents to access therapy more quickly.
However, a Trust representative accepted that wider explanation should have been provided and that it had been an oversight not to consult the Commission. He also promised to offer a number that former users could ring in a crisis. A Trust Board member at the meeting apologised to service users.
Introducing the Hackney LINk Steering Group
Following the Hackney LINk elections in July, the steering group is made up of the following 13 members:
- Malcolm Alexander
- Simin Azimi
- Suzette Barry
- Nicola Benjamin
- Joyce A W Edwards
- Neil Faulkner
- Maureen L M Ford
- Catherine Love
- Shirley Murgraff
- Florence Osaigbovo
- Ike Ozo
- Ida Joyce Scoullos
- Michael Vidal
We would like to thank the previous steering group for all of their hard work.
Hackney LINk Elects New Steering Group
Hackney LINk has held its first election for 13 places on its Steering Group.
The results were announced at the Town Hall by Michael Summerville, the borough’s Head of Electoral Services.
Top of the poll was Catherine Love, coordinator of a local forum for disabled people.
Mrs Love established the Disability Backup project, a forum which gives local disabled people a say in the development of services relating to disability. The forum now has 230 members.
She said: “I’m delighted to be able to contribute to the work of Hackney LINk. The LINk provides a great opportunity for disabled people to influence how services are planned and delivered.”
Esther Norman, LINk Support and Development Manager, welcomed the 53.2% turnout in the elections and said they were an important exercise in democracy for Hackney.
She said: “This shows Hackney LINk making real progress in giving people a voice in their local care services.”
To find out more information about the steering group, please visit our steering group page here.
Hackney LINk Election Results:
Latest news
Next Steering Group Meeting:
Date: Thursday 18th February 2010
Time: 10:00 - 12:00
Venue: Hackney LINk
Unit C (1st Floor) Ment House,
1B Mentmore Terrace
Hackney
London E8 3SD
Please click here for a map.
The agenda for this meeting will be available soon.
Next Acute Services Working Group Meeting
Date: Friday 26th February 2010
Time: 10:00 - 11:30
Venue: Hackney LINk
Unit C (1st Floor) Ment House,
1B Mentmore Terrace
Hackney
London E8 3SD
Please click for a map.
The agenda for this meeting will be available soon.
Download
- Download the Hackney LINk leaflet.
- Hackney LINk Annual Report 2009 here..
- Issue 2 - September Newsletter here.
- Issue 1 - August Newsletter here.
Hackney LINk Forum Launched
Please visit our Hackney LINk Forum to post and respond to topics.
Sign up as a member of Hackney LINk now!
Get more involved and sign up as a member of Hackney LINk. Join the Hackney LINk and influence change change in Hackney's health and social care services!
Have your say!
Tell us what you think about health and adult social care services in Hackney. here