Barnet LINk
& Barnet Healthwatch
THE WAY AHEAD
WHAT IS A LINK?
 Group of individuals & community groups acting
together as an independent Local Involvement
Network to improve health & social care
services.
 Barnet LINk is supported by a small ‘Host’ staff
team in CommUNITY Barnet, funded by the
London Borough of Barnet.
WHAT DOES A LINK DO?
 Find out what local people like or dislike about
local health & social care services.
 Feed in the information to those who plan & run
the services
 Form recommendations for better services that
reflect the local needs
 Follow up on recommendations.
DOES A LINK HAVE ANY TEETH?
LINks have legal rights:
To information from health & social care
providers/planners with right to response
To ‘enter & view’ facilities to view services with
right to response to recommendations
To make reports & recommendations based on
findings with right to response.
To refer issues of concern to Barnet scrutiny
committee with right to response
‘ENTER & VIEW’
Visits to health/adult social care premises to:
 Find out service users’ views & experiences
 Check out standards of care & environment
 Recommend improvements
CHANGES AHEAD –
GOVERNMENT PLANS
 Change the LINK into Local Healthwatch
 Set up Healthwatch England
 All Local Healthwatches to work with & be
advised by Healthwatch England
 Systematic monitoring of Local Healthwatch
findings to influence national planning of
services
 Healthwatch England to act nationally on what
Local Healthwatch finds out & speak out for
patients at government level
LOCAL HEALTHWATCH AS LINK +
Local Healthwatch will have all the roles & powers
of LINk plus new roles:
1. Advising local people about services & their
choices (NHS Constitution)
2. Reporting on their local findings to Healthwatch
England (HWE)
3. Recommending special investigations by
national health & social care Regulator (Care
Quality Commission) if needed
FROM BARNET LINK TO
BARNET HEALTHWATCH
Action plan to get ready for Healthwatch
1. Training on Enter & View
2. Work on 2 issues (1 each health/social care) with
new & existing members
3. LINk Governance review
4. Publicise the LINk
5. Work with GPs & others on NHS reforms
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
 LINK will set up 2 Task & Finish Groups
 1 for each of 2 top issues
 Groups will
- be supported by CommUNITY Barnet
- meet every few weeks
- finish in 3-6 months depending on topic
:
The Task
1. Find out views & experiences of service
users/patients
2. Visit the service
3. Find out how Barnet service performs
compared to rest of the country
4. Prepare a Report from findings & recommend
improvements
5. Follow up with service provider who must
respond to recommendations.
TYPES OF HEALTH SERVICES 1
‘PRIMARY CARE’ GPs, Dentists, Pharmacists
Opticians
‘COMMUNITY SERVICES’ District Nurses, Health
Visitors, Midwives, Dieticians, Speech Therapists,
Physiotherapists, Family Planning, Wheelchair
Services, Drug & Alcohol services
‘HOSPITAL SERVICES’ local district hospitals
covering all types of care inc. maternity & specialist
hospitals e.g. Great Ormond St.
‘
TYPES OF HEALTH
SERVICES 2
AMBULANCE SERVICES’ emergency ambulance
services (London Ambulance Service) & Patient
Transport services.
‘MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES’ community
mental health teams, primary care mental health
workers, crisis services, psychiatrists,
psychologists,, outreach workers & care of people
admitted to mental health units
‘LEARNING DISABILITY SERVICES’ health
support & health treatment for people with learning
disability (e.g. autism)
SOCIAL CARE
For vulnerable people e.g. Young People, Older
people, carers, people with a physical disability,
learning disability, dementia, eating disorder,
other mental health problem or who People who
misuse drug or alcohol
TYPES OF SOCIAL CARE
 CARE HOMES
 PAID CARERS AND SUPPORT AT
HOME
 CARER SUPPORT (Respite care at
home or outside the home)
 DAY CENTRES
GROUP WORK
 What do you think needs improving in Barnet’s
NHS?
 What do you think needs investigating in
Barnet’s NHS?
 What do you think needs improving in Barnet’s
social care?
 What do you think needs investigating in
Barnet’s social care?
INVITATION TO YOU….