• Health network

Health Network

You don’t have to be a health professional or deliver health services to have a positive impact on the health of the community you serve.

The CVS Health Network supports and informs organisations and individuals who engage with the community and who are therefore well placed to cascade opportunities, news, training and resources.  This in turn benefits and informs that community – consequently having a positive impact on health.  Anyone may join the Health Network – this is an open-information resource.  Local information circulated will link either directly or indirectly to health.  Contact Vicky Attwood for more information.

Health Information

Kim Hodgson appointed interim Chief Executive

Kim Hodgson has been appointed to succeed Ann Marr as interim Chief Executive for Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.

She previously worked with the Trust as Cost Improvement Programme Director in 2014 and is familiar with the Trust and staff. She begans in post, initially for a four to six-week period, on Tuesday 10 May, while the current disciplinary investigations draw to a conclusion.

Trust Chair Sue Musson said: “Kim is a nurse by background and brings significant experience working at a senior level in the NHS including as chief executive for many years.  Kim had a very positive impact during her previous engagement at the Trust, and her knowledge of the organisation will be a great asset.”

Ann Marr, who has been acting Interim Chief Executive since August, was originally appointed for a six-month period.

She has also continued to lead her own trust as Chief Executive at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and has recently been asked to lead on strategic planning for the wider local area.

Mrs Musson added: “It is no longer sustainable for Ann to take on this new role and continue to act as Accountable Officer for the two trusts. Ann has therefore taken the understandable decision to return to her own trust. However, Ann will continue to be involved with Southport and Ormskirk in her wider strategic role.

“I want to thank Ann Marr for her leadership and commitment over the past nine months. She has made an excellent contribution to the Trust, bringing her wealth of experience and commitment to quality and the patient experience.  I am delighted that the Trust will still have the benefit of Ann’s leadership and input in developing local sustainability and transformation plans.”

Carers UK Report

Carers UK’s State of Caring 2016 report shows that, one year on from the implementation of the Care Act 2014 – designed to improve support for carers – carers in England are still struggling to get the support they need to care well, maintain their own health, balance work and care, and have a life of their own outside of caring. See website: http://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/press-releases/more-than-half-of-carers-report-bleak-outlook-for-2016-as-new-law-not-yet-delivering-promised-improvements-to-their-lives?

NHS plan to transform general practice

The General Practice Forward View sets out a plan to support the transformation of general practice over the next five years and improve services for patients. By 2020/21 there will be an extra £2.4 billion a year going into general practice. In addition, there will be a one-off, five year £500 million investment to support GP practices. The General Practice Forward View includes plans to grow the workforce, increase use of technology, develop better premises and improve the way services are provided so patients have better access to the right service at the right time.

Public Health England Bulletin April 2016

Click here to read the latest PHE Bulletin

Public Health England encourages parents to vaccinate against measles, mumps and rubella

PHE is calling for all parents to get their children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). The call to be vaccinated coincides with European Immunisation Week, which is run by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the theme to ‘close the immunisation gap’, and an increase in measles cases currently being seen in England. For more information, read the PHE press release

Carers Support – West Lancashire Newsletter

Please click here to read the first Carers Support update.

Stakeholder Briefing – West Lancashire Community Health Services Procurement

Please click here to read an update relating to their community health services procurement.

If you have any queries regarding this, please direct them to myview@westlancashireccg.nhs.uk

Healthier Futures is the new name for Tobacco Free Futures

click here for more.

New online support for communities launches in West Lancashire 

The communities of West Lancashire are set to benefit from a new free online platform, Rally Round, which allows a support network to gather around you or someone you care about.

Rally Round is accessible online at www.rallyroundme.com/wlcvs and available to anyone living in West Lancashire.  Rally Round allows day to day tasks to be logged so those people involved in helping someone keep on track of what is outstanding and communicate with each other in order to offer the best possible support.

Rally Round is being launched jointly by NHS West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and West Lancashire CVS. Click here to read more, click here for poster and click here for leaflet.

If you are interested in Rally Round, please visit www.rallyroundme.com/wlcvs or contact Sarah at West Lancs CVS, Certacs House, 10-12 Westgate, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 8AZ or carers@wlcvs.org or 01695 733737.

Lancashire Happiness Snapshot 2016 Survey

Please complete this short survey to create a snapshot of happiness in Lancashire.

Share far and wide and look out for posts on social media too.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/happy16

West Lancs Health Network Event April 2016

The latest Health Network event was held on Tuesday 26 April 2016 at Parbold Village Hall.  Click here to read the presentations and click here to read the report.

Issues with transport to primary healthcare services highlighted in Healthwatch Lancashire report

click here to read the report.

Public Health England launches One You

Living healthily in midlife can double your chances of being healthy at 70 and beyond.  Public Health England has launched ‘One You’, the first ever nationwide campaign to address preventable disease in adults.  Click here to read more.

Stroke Association Take a Moment Campaign

Through April 2016, the Stroke Association are raising awareness of the link between high blood pressure and stroke. They are asking people to take a moment to order a free blood pressure information pack.

The pack is available to download from their website at www.stroke.org.uk/moments and provides information about the link between high blood pressure and stroke, details about where to get a blood pressure check and tips on how to maintain good blood pressure control.

How you can help ….

  • Please display Take a Moment posters encouraging people to download the information pack. Email takeamoment@stroke.org.uk with your postal address and how many posters you would like.
  • Promote Take a Moment on your website.
  • Promote through your social media channels. Share the Facebook posts and Tweets throughout March and April using the hashtag #TakeaMoment and the Twitter handle @TheStrokeAssoc to promote the campaign.

Examples of Take a Moment tweets for you to use:

Over half of all strokes can be caused by high blood pressure. #TakeaMoment to get your blood pressure tested today #KYBP

High blood pressure can affect anyone of any age. Take a Moment to order your information pack from stroke.org.uk/moments #TakeaMoment #KYBP

Dying Matters Awareness Week

Dying Matters Awareness Week 2016 will run from 9 to 15 May 2016. This year’s theme is ‘The Big Conversation’ – talking about dying won’t make it happen!

See website: http://www.dyingmatters.org/page/BigConversationResources

Healthwatch Lancashire Reports

Including: Feedback Reports on services in Lancashire, reports on services provided by Age UK Lancashire and Patient Engagement Day Reports for hospitals including Ormskirk  – http://healthwatchlancashire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Ormskirk-Hospital-Engagement-Day-Version-1.9.pdf

To view these reports and more publications please click here.

West Lancashire CCG Community Health Services Procurement

Please click here to read a briefing from West Lancs CCG about the Community Health Services Procurement.

If you have any queries regarding this, please email myview@westlancashireccg.nhs.uk

Healthwatch Lancashire Need Volunteers

In particular they are specifically recruiting volunteers to take part in engagement events including information stands, campaign survey work and ‘Patient Engagement Days’. This will help them gather enough intelligence to shape which projects they take part in.

Please help by spreading the word and distributing the attached poster.  If you need paper copies contact Natalie Cotterell on 01524 230662 / natalie.cotterell@healthwatchlancashire.co.uk  If you are holding any events Healthwatch could attend or have any ideas of how they can encourage more people to volunteer then please contact Natalie.

New Sugar Smart campaign launched

This month saw the launch of the new Change4Life Sugar Smart campaign encouraging families to cut back on sugar and providing easy-to-follow tips and advice on how to do this. The new Sugar Smart app, available on the Apple Store or Google Play, helps parents see how much sugar there is in everyday food and drink to keep families informed about the sugar in their shopping basket and cupboards. Change4Life has also created short film to warn parents about the health harms of eating and drinking too much sugar, including becoming overweight and tooth decay. For more information, read the press release – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/5-year-olds-eat-and-drink-their-body-weight-in-sugar-every-year

Zika Virus

Please click here to read a letter regarding the Zika virus from Public Health England.

Do you have some office space available which could earn your charity an income?

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust are looking for suitable locations for the delivery of mental health services following the closure of Daniels Lane to ensure continued delivery of services in Skelmersdale.  If anyone can offer accommodation for this service, or know of anyone else who might be able to help, please contact Phil Winnard, to chat about what may be possible.  The service requires small rooms suitable for 2/3 people for assessments and 1:1 meetings – 4/5 rooms if possible.

Phil can be contacted on 07775868805 / Phil.Winnard@Lancashirecare.nhs.uk

West Lancs CCG Community Health Services Procurement

Please click here to link to West Lancs CCG’s website.

30-9-15 Bidder event – please click here to see the CCG’s presentation

23-11-15 Learning Session – please click the links to see the presentations:

This is the document that will help organisations ‘sell themselves’ to providers – VCFS organisation summary form

8-12-15 CVS AGM follow up presentation – click here for the presentation

9-12-15 CCG stakeholder event – click here for the presentation

Patient Online

NHS England wants to increase the use of online GP services and would like to ask other partners to share #patientonline on their websites, social media and newsletters. Many GPs offer online services to their patients for which patients have to sign up. Online services do not replace traditional ways of contacting your GP practice, over the phone or in person. They simply offer additional ways to interact with your GP, making it easier and more convenient. For more information, go to:  http://www.nhs.uk/aboutNHSChoices/aboutnhschoices/find-and-choose-services/Pages/gp-online-services.aspx and https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/patient-online/

CQC Invisible Conditions Campaign

CQC have launched an Invisible Conditions Campaign targeting those with long term conditions such as depression, diabetes, heart disease and COPD.  They know that people living with long term conditions access health and social care services on a regular basis and so their feedback on care will help CQC inspectors decide when, where and what to inspect.  They want to hear their experiences – both good and bad. 

CQC will be engage with people with invisible conditions on Twitter (@CareQualityComm) asking them to share their experiences of care using the hashtag #InvisibleConditions. To find out more about the campaign, visit http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/invisible-conditions

Act FAST for Stroke

Public Health England and the Stroke Association urge everyone to Act FAST if they spot any one of the signs of stroke.

A person loses 2 million nerve cells every minute that they do not receive medical treatment during a stroke. Nerve cells are the core components of the brain and the more that are lost, the greater the chance of permanent disability or death. The faster you act the more of the person you save.

Public Health England and the Stroke Association have produced a new video showing what could happen if you Act FAST compared to waiting to see if someone gets better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc9OF64H4sE&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Stroke%20Association&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6289227_CAP01%2019%2F10%2F15%20FAST&utm_content=FAST%20video

Please spread the word about stroke by sharing this FAST video with the wider community. It’s already reached 35,000 people, let’s keep it going. See more: http://stroke-email.org.uk/1VKM-3QSSR-90KWFD9CB9/cr.aspx?v=2

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust CQC Inspection

Please click here to read the letter and click here to read the FAQ’s from the CQC inspection for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Understanding personal health budgets

People eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare now have a right to have a personal health budget, and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are currently looking at who else in their area could benefit from the flexibility of managing their care in this way. More information can be found on the NHS Choices website.

Get online to be a click away from improving your health

NHS England is encouraging everyone to use the internet to help stay healthy.  For e.g. you can take a course to see how the internet can help you manage your health. Websites such as NHS Choices can help with those little health niggles, or you could book fitness classes online and order prescriptions. Find your nearest UK Online centre at www.ukonlinecentres.com or call 0800 77 1234.

Progress Report – Improvements To Care In The Last Days And Hours Of Life

See website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improvements-to-care-in-the-last-days-and-hours-of-life

Supporting smoking cessation using a harm reduction approach

Royal Society for Public Health has produced a report which sets out how they can further reduce smoking rates by encouraging smokers onto safer forms of nicotine.  Tobacco contains nicotine along with many other chemicals, but nicotine by itself is fairly harmless.  Nicotine is harmful in cigarettes largely because it is combined with other damaging chemicals such as tar and arsenic, and as a highly addictive substance getting hooked on nicotine is one of the prime reasons why people become dependent on cigarettes.  Electronic cigarettes and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (gum, lozenges, and patches) contain nicotine but don’t contain the harmful substances found in cigarettes.  Read the full report  and the position paper.   Please join in the conversation.

More inclusive Friends and Family Test

Updated guidance has been published to help the Test be more inclusive and now covers services across the NHS that are provided to children and young people – with special provisions for looked after children – as well as patients with learning disabilities, dementia, language and literacy issues or patients who are deaf or deafblind.  More information:  http://www.england.nhs.uk/2015/07/15/making-nhs-patient-feedback-more-inclusive/

Updated NHS Constitution and Handbook Published

The revisions following consultation include a focus on importance of transparency and accountability, greater prominence to mental health, and reflect the recommendations of the Francis enquiry.  More information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england

Infographic shows how your voice makes a difference

Healthwatch Lancashire have produced an illustration to demonstrate how your feedback makes a difference to the health and social care services in Lancashire.

The infographic aims to simplify how Healthwatch Lancashire are working towards improving health and social care in the county by listening to the views, opinions and concerns of residents and raising these with those who manage, run and commission services.  Healthwatch Lancashire challenge when intelligence shows that services need to improve and celebrate when we are told that they are performing well to share best practice. See website: http://healthwatchlancashire.co.uk/news/new-infographic-shows-how-your-voice-makes-a-difference/

Right Wheelchair, Right Time, Right Now Campaign

The Right Wheelchair, Right Time, Right Now Campaign which aims to improve wheelchair services in England has been launched. Visit www.rightwheelchair.org.uk and pledge your support for the campaign to improve wheelchair services.

NHS Citizen update

NHS Citizen has kicked off with Gather – a website and programme of events for everyone to talk about how the NHS can improve. Citizens are discussing more than 20 conversations on different topics already.

Be Clear on Cancer

PHE has launched a national Be Clear on Cancer campaign to drive awareness of the risk of breast cancer amongst women over 70 including increasing their knowledge of lesser-known symptoms.

Public Health England Annual Plan

See link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/450949/Annual_plan_2015-_Aug3-web-1603.pdf

A Focus on Skelmersdale

Please click the link to read the full report on Skelmersdale commisioned by West Lancs CCG – www.westlancashireccg.nhs.uk/resources/corporate-documents/ . The introduction to the document is here – www.westlancashireccg.nhs.uk/introducing-a-new-report-the-seven-wards-a-focus-on-skelmersdale/

Healthwatch Report – Safely home: What happens when people leave hospital and care settings?

Please click the link to read the report – www.healthwatch.co.uk/safely-home

Expert nutritionists have recommended halving sugar in diet

Expert nutritionists have recommended halving sugar in diet – click here.

NCB – Improving Male Health for the Next Generation

A report, Improving Male Health for the Next Generation, presents findings from a survey of 138 men. The 2014 survey asked men about their approaches to getting help and advice on health issues, and what they think might help boys and young men growing up now to look after their health as they get older. More information:  http://ncb.org.uk/areas-of-activity/health-and-well-being/health-and-social-care-unit/resources-and-publications 

From Evidence Into Action: Opportunities to protect and improve the nation’s health

This document published at the same time as the NHS 5 year Forward View should be read in tandem with it. Public Health England has looked at the evidence to identify where they should focus efforts to make the most difference for public health. More information –https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/from-evidence-into-action-opportunities-to-protect-and-improve-the-nations-health

NHS England takes big steps towards patient safety

NHS England is funding a new national programme to improve the safety of patients and ensure learning sits at the heart of healthcare. A Patient Safety Collaborative will be established to empower patients, carers and staff to highlight, challenge and implement local improvements in patient care. More information –http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/news-events/news/health-secretary-launches-new-patient-safety-collaboratives.aspx

The NHS Five Year Forward View

The NHS Five Year Forward View has been published and sets out a vision for the future of the NHS. It has been developed by the partner organisations that deliver and oversee health and care services including NHS England, Public Health England, Monitor, Health Education England, the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Trust Development Authority. Patient groups, clinicians and independent experts have also contributed. More information – www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/