What is our legacy?
Between 1st April 2008 – 31st March 2013 the Local Involvement Network, or LINk as they have been more commonly referred to, have worked hard to make a difference to the Health and Social Care services that are available to residents of North East Lincolnshire.
Contributions to their work came from both members of the community and the services themselves. The good work of the LINk would not have been possible without the dedication shown by their members and the drive and enthusiasm of the Governing Body. Thank you to all the LINk members who were able to support us, especially the members of the Governing Body.
The last year of the LINk was one which contained the beginnings of massive changes for Health and Social Care across the country, including ourselves. The job of influencing health and social care has been passed on to Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire; we wish them all the best for the future.
Our Work
Dentistry – We surveyed over a thousand local people to find out if they had an NHS dentist. We received a lot of feedback about people who did not have a dentist and were not on a waiting list – because they didn’t know how to get on it. We worked with the Care Trust Plus to make sure that information and details about what to do if you don’t have a dentist was sent to every household.
Health Trainers – We worked with the Health Trainers to conduct a Mystery Shopper review of the service they provide. Our report will be published soon.
Hospital Discharge – we reviewed the Hospital Discharge procedures at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital and worked with the staff to improve them. We are now receiving feedback around problems arising again so we may revisit this in the near future.
Patient Participation Groups – We have been researching the different Patient Participation Groups in North East Lincolnshire and comparing the services offered. Our report will be published soon.
Privacy and Dignity in Care – We researched into the level of Privacy and Dignity in Care provided in nursing and residential care homes in North East Lincolnshire. Please click the link above to see our report.
Transport – We reviewed the transport options available for those accessing health and social care services in our Transport report.
Young People – We worked with young people from North East Lincolnshire to produce a DVD around health and social issues that the young people felt affected them in North East Lincolnshire. Our client-led work on this has earned us accolades nationally from the Department of Health and others. We have been used as a case study by marketing company Forsters as well as Cambridge University, Leceister University and Community Service Volunteers who recently produced a good practice guide on engaging practice. Check it out here. We have also been involved with the National Children’s Bureau who invited us to speak at a conference about how to engage young people. They wrote a report on how LINks include young people. You can check it out here to see what they said.
Dementia Collaborative – We are involved in the Dementia Forum and are looking into the gaps in services for Dementia. A report has now been completed.
Enter and View – We have been visiting health and social care services in North East Lincolnshire under our Enter and View work.
Older People’s DVD – We have put together a DVD of older peoples services in North East Lincolnshire.
Transforming Community Equipment Services – we have been vocal in the consultation around the changes to provision of mobility aids. One of our Governing Body members was our representative on this group.
We have also completed countless consultations and work in partnership with many of the key providers of care in North East Lincolnshire.
Annual Reports
As part of the reporting processes for LINk’s an Annual Report was produced for each year of their existence.
2008-9 Annual Report
2009-10 Annual Report
2010-11 Annual Report
2011-12 Annual Report
2012-13 Bi-Annual Report (April – Sept)
2012-13 Bi-Annual Report (Oct-March)