The Department of Health have now produced a short version of the plan for the NHS:  Strategy for the NHS: an executive summary from ‘Equity and Excellence:  Liberating the NHS’.  This easy read version can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Agenda for the Co-ordinating Group meeting to be held on Friday 10th September at 12.15pm is now available.  To download a copy of the agenda, please click here  or, alternatively, please contact the LINk Support Team on 01785 887990 to request a paper copy.

The latest edition of the Staffordshire LINk Bulletin is now available to download by clicking here.  Alternatively, you can request a paper copy by calling the LINk Support Team on 01785 887990.

The West Midlands Ambulance NHS Trust August newsletter is now available.  Read the latest news and information from the Trust including Emergency Bikers, Defibs for Distributors, Steve Retires after 41 years, Yvonne loses Pounds for £s, Thanks for Saving my Life, Dreams Come True for Ray, Trust Lifts National Golf Trophy and much much more.  To download the newsletter, please click here.

Following the introduction of a new law, all NHS hospitals in England must now be licensed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  To be licensed hopsitals must show that they are meeting new essential standards of quality and safety.  CQC continuously monitors them to make sure standards are kept or improvement action is taken.  Now CQC has published a leaflet which informs patients, their carers and families, what they can expect from the essential standards.  The leaflet also explains how important it is that patients or their carers tell the regulator about their experiences, both good and bad, to help CQC make the right decisions.  Called ‘What standards to expect from the regulation of your NHS hospital’ the leaflet can be read or downloaded from the CQC website.

At the same time the CQC website publishes an up-to-date directory of all licensed NHS hospitals.  You can now look up the current status of any NHS hospital trust in England.

The licensing of NHS hospitals is just the first step in a programme which will see new essential standards of quality and safety gradually rolled out across all health and adult social care services in England.  In October this year all adult social care services must be licensed by CQC and providers must demonstrate they are meeting essential standards of quality and safety; so too must all providers of independent healthcare.  You can find out more about the programme and how it affects the care you and your family receives by visiting CQC’s website at www.cqc.org.uk  or you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 03000 616161.  The leaftlet can be downloaded by clicking here.

A series of consultation events organised by Regional Voices, a Strategic Partner to the Department of Health, to discuss the implications and impact of the changes proposed in the Health White Paper are taking place in September.  Theses events are for the voluntary and community sector, and patients, service user and carers groups.  Further information and a booking form can be downloaded by clicking here.  The NHS White Paper and consultation documents produced by the Department of Health can be accessed in the Resources: Reports section of the Staffordshire LINk website.  The consultation documents are entitled:

Local Democratic Legitimacy

Transparency in outcomes - a framework for the NHS

Commissioning for Patients

Regulating NHS Providers

The Care Quality Commission (CQC)  today acknowledged significant improvements at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust however a number of important improvements remain outstanding.

If you would like to see CQC’s full report, a copy of their report on the trust’s progress in implementing recommendations can be downloaded by clicking here.

Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley today set out the Government’s ambitious plans to reform the NHS during this Parliament and for the long-term.

The White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence:  Liberating the NHS’ published today, details how power will be devolved from Whitehall to patients and professionals.   Professionals will be free to focus on improving health outcomes so that these are amongst the best in the world.  Improving the quality of care will become the main purpose of the NHS.  Patients will get more choice and control, backed by an information revolution, so that services are more responsive to patients and designed around them rather than patients having to fit around services.  The principle will be “no decision about me without me”.

Under the new plans, patients will be able to choose which GP practice they register with, regardless of where they live, and choose between consultant-led teams.  More comprehensive and transparent information, such as patients’ own ratings, will help them make these choices together with healthcare professionals.

Groups of GPs will be given freedom and responsibility for commissioning care for their local communities.  Providers of services will have new freedoms and they will be more accountable. There will be greater competition in the NHS and greater cooperation.  Services will be more joined up, supported by a new role for Local Authorities to support integration across health and social care.

As a result of the changes, the NHS will be streamlined with fewer layers of bureaucracy.  Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts will be phased out.  Management costs will be reduced so that as much resource as possible supports frontline services.  The reforms build on changes started under the previous Government.

The NHS White Paper is available to download by clicking here

The CQC have produced their latest bulletin for LINks and scrutiny committees.  It contains important information about how they are regulating health and social care services with your help.  If you would like to download the bulletin, please click here.   Alternatively, if you would like to access an easy read version of the bulletin, this can be downloaded by clicking here.

We are pleased to be able to present Staffordshire LINk’s annual report for 2009-10. It has been a turbulent 12 months for Staffordshire LINk which had encountered a number of difficulties in establishing itself as an effective network. This culminated in the Department of Health, in discussion with Staffordshire County Council, commissioning an independent review of the LINk in May 2009. Patient and Public Involvement Solutions (PPI solutions) were appointed to lead the Staffordshire LINk County Board in a review of the LINk. An interim report was published in September 2009 followed by a final report in October 2009 which outlined a number of recommendations on how to move the LINk forward. Before the recommendations could be implemented, the host organisation (Staffordshire University) in discussion with the county council agreed to relinquish the contract as LINk host and the contract was returned to the county council in November 2009 pending consultation and re-tendering. At the same time the LINk County Board was disbanded, as were the district committees and sub-groups and a rebuilding phase began.

Please, find the complete report by clicking here.