Childrens' Dental Health Project

The Portsmouth LINk Steering Group has decided that a project to investigate the health of childrens’ teeth in the City of Portsmouth has high merit.

At the time of writing this Blog Article 11 members of the 14 strong Steering Group thought that a project was worthwhile.

As a background, Portsmouth has some of the worst oral health nationally and the city’s children have some of the highest number of decayed and missing teeth. An index measuring oral health in terms of the average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) produces a national average in England of 1.45. The index for Portsmouth is 1.78.

At the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting of the 13 Sep 2011 the committee recommended a 2 year breathing space before the issue of fluoridation of water supplies is once again debated. Therefore the LINk will try to discover through a commissioned research programme, what is currently undertaken by way of education concerning the care of childrens' teeth in the City.

Transfer of Care

The Portsmouth Local Involvement Network has been investigating the topic of Transfer From Care for over a year. During this period of time a Public Meeting has been conducted, a Report has been commissioned and published, and various visits to the discharge department of Queen Alexandra Hospital have been carried out.

These are just a small number of the initiatives which attempt to grapple with this complex and weighty problem.

The LINk has now decided to commission dedicated research into this area and is preparing for this undertaking by reviewing documentation and hearsay evidence gleaned at public meetings and the all important project scope.

If you have information which you would like to contribute to this project please email the LINk Support Officer (see “Contact Us” Page of the Blog).

Vascular Surgery Services

The issue surrounding the proposals for the provision of Vascular Surgery Services for the South Coast conurbations is poised to enter a new phase after Christmas with the development of plans for public consultation by the SHIP PCT Cluster.

While consultation was inevitable throughout the recent debates the context has recently changed firstly by the endorsement of the “Brighton option” by the West Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel and the West Sussex LINk, and secondly, by the development of proposals from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust to create a vascular centre in Portsmouth capable of serving the population of Portsmouth, South East Hampshire and a small number of patients from Chichester.

As both engagement and consultation is of central importance to Local Involvement Networks this important consultation will play a part in the work of the LINk during the early months of 2012.

LINk AGM / Question Time Event

The Portsmouth LINk held an AGM and Question Time event on the evening of Thursday 24^th November at the John Pounds Centre, Portsea. Terry Carter, currently Acting Chair of the Steering Group, chaired the AGM and also acted as “question master” during the question time event.

All who attended felt that the AGM was well conducted with the adoption of the 2011 Chair’s Annual Report, The Financial Reports and the Minutes of the 2010 AGM. The Chair explained that the recently planned elections had not taken place due to there being an insufficient number of candidates. The LINk members who were present agreed, by a substantial majority, that the present Steering Group should meet to discuss the way forward, in the light of the LINk's Terms of Reference, and that they should then report back to the membership.

The Chair proposed a vote of thanks to the former LINk Chair, who had resigned and it was further agreed that a letter of thanks should be sent expressing the thanks of everyone, for the dedicated service that he had rendered. A vote of thanks was also proposed to the retiring Vice Chair and it was also agreed that a letter of thanks should be sent to her. Both of these proposals were carried unanimously.

Vascular Surgery was billed as the theme of the question time event and while this issue was raised it appeared that the audience also wanted to know about other subjects such as “appointments”, “wheelchair services”, “funding” and “end of life care” (to name a few).

The panel was made up of professionals from Portsmouth City Council (Adult Social Care), Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Solent HealthCare Trust and the SHIP PCT Cluster.

LINk AGM / Question Time Event

Please click here to view a Letter providing an update about the Annual General Meeting process and arrangements for the forthcoming health and social care public meeting to be held on the 24^th November at the John Pounds Centre, Portsea.

Elections for Steering Group Membership

Nominations are now closed for the 2011 Portsmouth LINk Steering Group Elections. We would like to thank all those who put forward excellent nominations. Further information about the election process will follow on Monday (14/11/2011).

St Mary's Community Health Campus

St Mary's Community Health Campus

See slide 13 for details of FREE open day tours from November 28th to December 2nd

Vascular Surgery Issue

Help shape health and social care in Portsmouth

With so many changes to health and social care services, it’s even more important that your views are heard.

You can have a say on the future of these services by getting involved in the Portsmouth LINk.

The LINk acts on behalf of patients and residents to help make sure health and social care services in the city are the best they can be.

In November Portsmouth LINk is holding an election for a new steering group, which will tackle key health and social care issues in the city and represent users. The results of the election will be announced at a public meeting starting at 6pm on 24 November at the John Pounds Centre, Portsea.

This event will also give an update on LINk’s work and will include a ‘question time’ panel.

If you’d like to become a LINk member, stand for the election or take part in the meeting, contact victor.vine@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or call 023 9284 1388.

The LINk will soon become part of a new watchdog organisation, Healthwatch. If you wish to be included in the work of the LINk as it develops into Healthwatch, please complete our quick survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z7BG7SB

Click here for LINk Election Process

Elections for Steering Group Membership

The Portsmouth Local Involvement Network (LINk) will shortly be holding elections for Steering Group Membership.

If you are interested in standing for election please submit a short candidate statement.

Your candidate statement can either be a short written article (up to 500 words) or it can be a video or audio file.

All candidate statements will be published on the Portsmouth LINk Blog.

If you require any support in producing your candidate statement contact the LINk Support Officer, Victor Vine (please see the “contact us” page of this Blog).

If you would also like to stand for election as Chair or Vice Chair of the Steering Group (or one of the Sub-Groups) please include this information with your candidate statement. You can do this by simply stating, for example, “I am also interested in standing for the post of Chair of the Steering Group”.

The Portsmouth LINk invites both nominations and self nominations for these posts.

Full details about the election process will be published shortly.

Health and Social Care at University

Health and social care is important for everyone; and in particular for university students. Such a diverse range of people requires careful attention to ensure that every individual feels that their needs are met. But is this the case?

When we first started university last year, never having been to Portsmouth before, we were pleasantly surprised by the range of services that the university provides and their close proximity to both halls of residence and the main campus buildings. From the doctor’s surgery and dentist to the chaplaincy service, we felt welcomed by the university and that they cared about the individual as an asset. The university provides health and social care support that make us feel that we are more valuable than mere students, they send a positive message that they care about us as future investments by providing support services to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of every single student.

Saying that however, we feel that despite the good range of health and social care sessions, from drug awareness to sexual health advice, some improvements need to be made. We feel that these sessions are not advertised enough, ask any student and they will not be able to tell you when or where the sessions are run. Further, many will feel too embarrassed or intimidated to go, despite some positive promotion by the university. Arguably many students feel uncomfortable discussing these sensitive issues with anyone, and this is exacerbated by staff that seem to be unconcerned and when the first blunt question is about Chlamydia!

On the other hand, some services such as the chaplaincy have proven themselves to be a god’s send (excuse the pun!). It is of great comfort to know that these services are there for you whenever you need them, and that the support they provide is confident and will be provided with genuine care towards your wellbeing as an individual. Although the doctor’s could be improved to have a link up with the local surgeries and the registration process seems needlessly long, they are quick to give out appointments at times that suit you.

In conclusion, the university does address health and social care issues with some success. These services could be improved to make them more accessible to students, however as a whole they are successful. Article by Leanne Earnshaw.

What are the Health and Social Care needs of Students studying in Portsmouth?

Being trendy, pretty, smart, a good student, sporty, a party animal, cool, special, always online (facebook), experienced in work and travelling and so on... These are all things which a student has to be today.

There are lots of students who lose themselves by doing things which “people just do today”. They forget their own preferences and don’t know what they really want to do in their life. It is often very difficult to know limits and boundaries especially when a person is in a new environment.

With all these social expectations to achieve, students may be driven to search for “non-thinking-times” maybe by being tempted to drink alcohol or even worse being tempted to experiment with drugs. Family, friends, self-doubts or unachievable goals can be a compelling reason to escape in what can be addictive pastimes.

The question is, how can we get students to speak about their health and social care concerns? It takes a lot of courage to speak about uncomfortable topics. So there should be a way to encourage students to say what they’re thinking. This might also be an opportunity to find other people who struggle with similar problems.

The Portsmouth LINk Blog is an internet resource which provides students (and all residents of Portsmouth) with a forum to discuss health and social care issues they face. This gives students the opportunity to influence health and social care services which in turn might improve those services which support students.

Students need a forum where they can speak about their health and social care concerns without being judged. They need people to help them make the best of their situation by listening, empathizing and taking forward the issues which are important to students. The Local Involvement Network (LINk) is such a forum and will provide for as much participation and involvement as a student has time for.

But you should never forget: Change is only possible if you want to change something in your own right. Article written by Lucia Pescatore.

Freshers Fayre

The Community Engagement Team spent two days at the University of Portsmouth’s Freshers Fayre event held last week (Wednesday 21/09/2011 and Thursday 22/09/2011). This event always involves hundreds of students and is always a good opportunity to promote the Local Involvement Network. It has to be said that getting students interested in Health and Social Care during one of the most exhilarating points in their life can be difficult. Despite this, many students were interested in the LINk and took away contact details with a keen interest to become involved. An idea was hit upon that a student might be interested in contributing an article to the LINk Blog which put forward a “Student’s View” about Health and Social Care interests. This formed the basis of an engagement approach and attracted a fair number of promises. One Student, Lucia Pescatore, took the offer very seriously, and has produced a short and very relevant article putting across her view of the way a Student might regard Health and Social Care when embarking upon a university degree with all the dramatic changes in circumstances that is demanded by such a commitment. This article is reproduced as a separate Blog Article (view article by Lucia Pescatore).

Your Chance to Influence End of Life Care at QAH

This is a very important issue on which patients and the public now have an opportunity to influence the way the Queen Alexandra Hospital looks after people who die while in their care. Please give us your comments. The Portsmouth LINk has two members on panels who are reviewing this topic over the next weeks and months. Other groups involved are the Portsmouth Pensioners, Faith Groups, Carers Together, the Hampshire LINk, a Cancer Patient Representative, the Rowans Hospice and a Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust Governor. All of these people are truly independent and many have first hand knowledge of End of Life Care. But we need your views.

Please help us make sure this is done right!

LINk Survey

With all the changes that are occurring in the NHS and other health & social care services at the moment it is even more important that your opinion and voice is heard!

We want to give you the opportunity to continue to have your say on the future of the health & social care services in Portsmouth.

We also wish to continue to include as many people as possible in the work of the LINk as it develops into Local Healthwatch and so we have created a brief survey and invite you to take part.

LINk members should have received the survey via email by now, so please complete the survey as soon as you can and tell us what you think!

If you have not received the LINk survey, or are not a LINk member but want to get involved, please contact Steven Taylor of the Communities Engagement Team at steven.taylor@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

LINk Work Plan prioritisation continues

The “weighting system” which is being used to prioritise the issues the Portsmouth LINk is working on was discussed at the Steering Group Meeting held on the 14/09/2011. Due to the combination of a very full agenda (reducing the time the LINk needed to discuss the system) and the detailed nature of the system itself (which demanded a high degree of concentration from everyone) the Steering Group decided to postpone working through the system until the next Development & Investigation Sub-Group Meeting (scheduled for Tuesday 27/09/2011). The Chair of the Development & Investigation Sub-Group requested that the Agenda for this meeting is re-issued with new timings placing the weighting system as the first item on the agenda and allocating up to two hours for completion.

A Blog familiarisation session has recently been held at Portsmouth Central Library. The session was facilitated because LINk participants were very keen to use the Blog and wanted to find out more about how the Blog worked and how they could contribute. The session lasted for 2 hours with participants staying as long as they felt their personal needs demanded. If you have any questions about the Blog please email the Community Engagement Team (via the Contacts Page).

2 more issues to consider on LINk Work Plan

The list of issues which the Portsmouth LINk will be prioritising has increased by 2. Recent interest in End of Life Care has added this important topic to the list. Additionally, concerns voiced by the Portsea Action Group (see Portsea Action Group expresses concern over proposals for Vascular Surgery Services) has meant that Vascular Surgery Services are now included on the list of issues the LINk will be prioritising. To view the revised Work Plan and to see a list of archived Work Plans, please go to the Work Plan section of the Documents Page (Click here for Work Plans).

Portsea Action Group expresses concern over proposals for Vascular Surgery Services

On the 07/09/2011 the Portsmouth LINk delivered a short presentation about its purpose to the Portsea Action Group (PAG). The presentation was well received and there are plans to maintain contact with this important community group. During the presentation the overwhelming majority of the group expressed concern over the proposed plans for Vascular Surgery Services in the Portsmouth area. PAG were informed that the concerns they had expressed would be put to the LINk Steering Group. Since the presentation the LINk Steering Group have been briefed about PAG's concern and have agreed to include Vascular Surgery Services as an item to be prioritsed in the forthcoming prioritisation of LINk work stream issues. This means that should Vascular Surgery Services be placed at the top of the LINk's list of priorities the LINk will be conducting a structured community engagement programme to consolidate the information from PAG and the other groups who are concerned about this issue.

End of Life Care

The Portsmouth LINk wishes to gather comments about the Report produced by Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (Queen Alexandra Hospital) about End of Life Care. This Report was produced by the Hospital following the recommendations made by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel and was originally posted on the LINk Blog Notice Board on the 02/08/2011. Your comments about this topic will be very welcomed. Please click on the following hyperlink to read the Report : View Presentation.

Agreeing the priorities of the Portsmouth LINk

The LINk Steering Group Meeting scheduled for Wednesday 14/09/2011 will include a discussion about how the LINk prioritises the issues on its Work Plan. You are very welcomed to contribute any comments that you might have on how this prioritisation should be carried out and what should be a priority.

The guidance information provided to LINks from the NCI Guide No. 10 is very useful when assessing what a LINk Work Plan is and how it should be formulated (View Guidance Document Number 10).

Recently, the Portsmouth LINk reduced the number of items which appeared on its Work Plan, from 22 to 10, and then informally prioritised the remaining 10 issues (View prioritised list). The next step to be taken by the LINk is a formal prioritisation exercise involving all members of the Steering Group working to an agreed model of prioritisation.

Three options for Vascular Surgery

The local debate about Vascular Surgery has been further enriched by a Letter written by the Chief Executive of the SHIP PCT Cluster, Mrs Debbie Fleming. The Letter provides an outline of three options being explored to meet required standards. Please click on the following hyperlink to read the Letter by Mrs Fleming View Letter written by Mrs Fleming.

DoH Consultation Document - Local Healthwatch Funding

The Department of Health recently published a consultation document to all Local Authorities, LINks and Volunteering groups, regarding the funding arrangements for Local Healthwatch and its additional functions (advocacy etc). The document includes some very useful information about what Local Healthwatch will involve and some detail about funding amounts. It also asks for responses to some proposals it makes about how funding should be allocated and how this should be calculated. Can you please read the document and let me have your views as soon as possible please? Thank you. Click here to view the Consultation Document.

PHT Board Meeting in Public

As Chair of the Portsmouth LINk Steering Group, I attended the PHT Board Meeting in Public at QAH today. This is always a good opportunity to hear what the top decision-makers running our Acute Hospital are doing and discussing. There is also an agenda item towards the end of the meeting for members of the public to ask questions. This is an opportunity once a month for LINk matters to be brought directly to the Board's attention.

The meeting agenda and minutes of the last meeting are available through the PHT website.

Today, I raised three LINk issues in response to discussion by Board members.

Solent NHS Trust is looking for members like you…

Are you interested in healthcare? Would you like a say in your local NHS Trust?

If you answered yes to the above questions, then membership is for you.

Solent NHS Trust is your local provider of community and mental health services. Their services include health centres, children’s centres and care in people’s homes. By becoming a member you will be able to help shape local services in your area.

You can decide how involved you would like to be. You might choose to receive updates, you might like to comment on our plans and take part in events. You may even consider standing for election as Governor on our Council of Governors.

The choice is yours!

To find out more and to become a member visit www.solent.nhs.uk/membership.

Leaving Hospital After Treatment

Many LINk Members, and associated community groups, are aware that the Portsmouth LINk is interested in the topic of Discharge from Care. Queen Alexandra Hospital has provided the Portsmouth LINk with a draft leaflet which aims to provide information on the discharge planning pathway for all patients admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital. If you would like to make a comment about this draft leaflet please click on the following hyperlink and let us have your comments. Draft 1 Leaving Hospital Leaflet

HealthWatch Funding

Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, the DoH (Department of Health) will allocate funding for Local HealthWatch, NHS Complaints Advocacy and (potentially) PCT Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards from October 2012. This additional funding will be added to the current DoH Learning Disabilities and Health Reform grant. A consultation is being conducted to ask for your views about options for distributing this new funding . Please note that this is a new consultation document from the DoH and responses from local authorities, LINks and others are sought by October. Please click the following hyperlink to see the relevant documentation http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_128429

Statement from the Chair of Portsmouth LINk

Whilst acknowledging the reservations of some residents living close to Queen Alexandra Hospital about noise, the Portsmouth Local Involvement Network (monitoring Health and Social Care in Portsmouth) strongly supports the Trust's application to extend helicopter flying hours as a major step towards improving quick access to emergency treatment for patients for whom delay could be live-threatening.

J McLees
Chair, Portsmouth LINk Steering Group

SHIP HealthWatch Pathfinder Announced

SHIP HealthWatch Pathfinder Announced

Southampton, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth Councils are committed to supporting the development of local HealthWatch and recently applied to the Department of Health to jointly establish a local pathfinder project to help with preparations for the new consumer watchdog for health & social care.

The aim of the pathfinder is to collectively explore a range of issues raised during the national consultation exercise, consider value for money and to give patients, service users and the public a stronger voice.

Every local authority across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is committed to this collaborative approach and we look forward to taking part in the HealthWatch national pathfinder programme, in order to share our learning and identify good practice.

For more information check out the Department of Health website

Cosham Communities Day

The LINk was represented at the Communities Day event held in Cosham High Street on Friday 22/07/2011. The day was very full with over 150 people attending the Stand. 37 people left their email addresses in order to receive additional information about the Portsmouth LINk (via the Blog). People who stopped at the Stand, and expressed an interested in Health and Social Care, were very interested when they learned that LINk representatives were actually meeting with senior staff at Queen Alexandra Hospital almost at the very point in time when they were discovering the LINk and what it does. If you were one of the people who visited the Stand on that day, and if you still want to get involved, please make contact (via email or telephone) to find out just how simple it is to become involved. The other 100 or so people making general points identifying neighbourhood priorities did so by being given 3 voting cards which were then used to identify the priorities for improvement within their local area – the options and results of the 116 people who voted appear on the Neighbourhood Forum Blog.

Armed Services Weekend

The LINk recently helped to staff a Stand at the Armed Services Weekend event held on Southsea Common. The Stand was set up by the Veterans Outreach Support Group (VOS) which provides an outreach service for ex-service personnel in need of support. The LINk has contacts with VOS by attending the regular “drop in” sessions held at the Royal Maritime Club in Queens Street Portsmouth. A clear theme which has emerged from visits to these sessions is that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] is a common experience amongst people attending the drop in. Following the relationship the LINk has built with VOS a request was made for the LINk to assist with staffing the Stand on Saturday 02/07/2011 and Sunday 03/07/2011. Both Volunteers and Local LINk Support provided cover. The time spent at the event was filled with a mixture of both the concentration needed to listen to the points made by people attending the event and the admiration for the ex-service personnel (of all ages) who paraded with pride during the day. An aim of the LINk is to set up a group of people who have experiences of PTSD. The purpose of the group would be to gather information about the issue and establish if the LINk process can help this section of the community. If you are interested in helping with this project please contact the LINk

Portsmouth Hospitals Trust Quality Accounts 2010/11

In 2010 the Portsmouth Hospitals Trust published its first Quality Account, providing details of the quality of services the Trust provides and priorities for improvement in 2010/2011, the Trust has published its second Quality Account. 

To read the Quality Accounts click here

Vascular Surgery Services

Members of the Portsmouth LINk met with Penny Mordaunt MP to discuss issues of common interest to do with health and social care service provision in the Portsmouth area. Although the main reason for this meeting was to talk about the possible removal to Southampton of vascular surgeons from QAH, a number of other health and social care subjects were covered.