Two New Staff Members

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1 N ws Local Health and Social Care news from you local Healthwatch December 2017 / January 2018 Welcome Welcome to the Healthwatch Walsall News. The best way to keep up to date with the work that we have being doing in order to champion the views of people using the Health and Social Care services in Walsall. Rescheduled Following the cancellation of the last Spotlight On.. due to bad weather and travel issues, the next meeting will take place on the Thursday 25th January 2018 at the Aldridge Community Centre, Aldridge. Two New Staff Members See our poster on page 8 for full details. Please print it off and display it where people can see it to attend the meeting. Paul Higgitt We have two new staff members, joining Denise, Simon, Fatima and Tom, who will be working with service providers and commissioners to make sure health and social services meet everyone's needs. Paul is our Engagement Co-ordinator. Ashley is our Communications & Administration officer. 15 New Volunteers: Page 2 Ashley Lovell Have you accessed cancer or Intermediate Care services? Have you or a family member accessed cancer support or Intermediate care services recently? These are two of our key priorities and we would like to know patients experiences and views. Types of information may be around cancer care plans, information and advice services or how things were explained to you. In relation to intermediate care we would like to hear from you about care packages, care providers, what you feel could have made you care better. If you attend a support group we would also like to come and talk to you and your group about Healthwatch and our work. See page 2 to see how to invite us. A few words from our Chief Officer, Simon Fogell It s been all go since the summer, with our GP Access and A&E surveys running and doing some independent work for Walsall CCG. We published 4 independent reports for the CCG and the surveys we did based on peoples concerns about GPs and A&E have been analysed and two reports have been written. They are being tabled at the next Health and Wellbeing Board in January. We are looking at Cancer Services next. What's inside: December Highlights: Page 2 How to help the NHS: Page 3 Proposed GP relocation: Page 4 Spotlight on: page 5 Enter and View: Page 7

2 Thank you Walsall Football Club On Saturday 18th November, Tom and Ashley, went along to the Walsall vs Gillingham match. They spoke to fans about the work of Healthwatch Walsall, the range of opportunities for people to get involved, and the experiences some people have had over the last few weeks. We would like to thank Walsall Football Club for allowing us to be there, and supporting our mission to champion the voice of patients in Walsall. We would also like to thank all the fans that spoke to us on the day. Look out for the Healthwatch Walsall team at other events through out the year. Do you want us to attend your event or activity? Attending events is a fantastic opportunity for us to speak to people about the work that we do, the opportunities for people to get involved and record peoples experience. If you would like a member of the Healthwatch Walsall team to support your event, you contact us on info@healthwatchwalsall.co.uk or call New cohort of volunteers welcomed We are pleased to welcome over 15 new volunteers to the Healthwatch Walsall team, with more on the way. The new cohort attended an initial induction day on Wednesday 29th November, which covered the work of Healthwatch as well as a range of other topics. Our volunteers will receive further training, and will be supporting us in the New Year in a range of key areas such as our Enter and View and community based engagement. If you are interested in being involved with Healthwatch Walsall and helping to shape NHS and Social Care services, we have a range of opportunities available to do so.. Here comes Henry Healthwatch During 2017 Healthwatch Walsall undertook an awareness campaign to raise the profile of our work and services. As part of this campaign we held a competition to name our new Mascot. A winner has now been selected. Congratulations to Claudia from Queen Mary s High School who has won a 50 Amazon voucher. A big welcome to the newest member of the team. Healthwatch Henry Henry plans to visit schools, GP surgeries, town centres and even hospitals during Although there is a funny side to Henry Healthwatch, it is important to point out that his key role is to work with our team and to capture your experiences of using health and social care services in Walsall.

3 How Can You Help The NHS Service This Winter? It could be the toughest winter yet for the NHS. So the people of Walsall are urged to get the best out of their local NHS services, to Stay Well This Winter. Here s what you can do: Make your pharmacy the first choice for help and advice many pharmacies are open long hours including evenings and weekends and can help you deal with many conditions, such as if you have a cold, a sprain or strain, if you have small cuts and bruises, have indigestion or heartburn etc., You don t need an appointment to speak with the pharmacist. For urgent medical advice call NHS 111 for help and advice If you feel unwell or care for someone who is unwell, and you don t know what to do. Don t leave it too long please don t let your medical condition get out of hand; the best thing to do is to get checked out. If you look after someone else, encourage them to seek advice. Contact NHS 111 or visit the pharmacy for advice if you need to make a GP appointment they ll let you know. The flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. This is to ensure they are protected against catching flu and developing complications. You may be eligible to receive a free flu vaccine if you: Are 65 years of age or over. Are pregnant. Have certain medical conditions. Are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility. Receive a career's allowance, or you are the main career for an elderly or disabled person Winter Patient Story If you are one of the many people who may have to use Health and Social Care services this winter, including A&E, or who may have had appointments or surgery cancelled etc. we would like to hear about your experiences. You can share your experiences with us by: Contacting us by phone on or visit our Experience Exchange website. One of the most important things you can do to help us raise awareness, is to share your story/ experience. You can also search through previous reviews as well as providing your own feedback on the services that you have received Good or Bad.

4 Proposed Surgery Relocation Litchfield Street Surgery, Sycamore House Surgery, The Limes Surgery and Saddlers Medical Centre. The Umbrella Medical Group are proposing to move to a new purpose-built medical centre on the site of the former Jabez Cliff leather works on Lower Forster Street. The proposed new medical centre will be home to four GP practices : Litchfield Street Surgery Sycamore House Surgery Limes Surgery Saddlers Medical Centre It will also have a pharmacy and a café. Why are Umbrella medical proposing moving to a new building? They have said their current four surgeries are ageing, outdated and in need of replacement and have a number of problems and limitations including: access, maintenance, some limited disability access, lack of space for extending services. Their plan is to build a state of the art modern health centre that would meet the needs of patients. The new building will offer over 50 consulting rooms far in excess of the number combined at the current four sites. There will also be scope for increased levels of opening times and flexible working. The proposal is to continue to offer the enhanced services already offered in addition to many new services. For further information or comments can be ed to doctor@stevens.net or call Healthwatch Walsall would also like to hear from you if you are a patient at one of the four current GP centres to tell us what think of the proposals. Do you feel that the proposed new site will be accessible for you? Do you feel the new site will give better co-ordination of services and more flexibility? Contact us at info@healthwatchwalsall.co.uk or call us on

5 Update on Our Spotlight On Mental Health Services in Walsall Over 30 people from the Walsall area attended the Spotlight On Mental Health Services public meeting, as well as a large number of local organisations that provide a range of services, advice and support. At this meeting our guest speaker was, Mr. Mark Axcell, Chief Executive of Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust, who provided an update on services and took questions from the public. Questions and Answers: Q: How many actual Specialist Mental Health Social Workers are there and where are they based? A: There are approximately 30 that sit within the community teams within localities. Q: Some of the targets look impressive but what % of those are readmitted back into a hospital based setting? A: Every readmission back into hospital is viewed by myself and the figures are low. We are happy to provide Healthwatch with the details if required. Every patient that is discharged we aim to provide an effective discharge package within the community setting. Public Meetings We hold a number of public meetings throughout the year, allowing commissioners and providers the opportunity to communicate updates on developments and any changes taking place within services. It is the best opportunity for you to ask questions about the services that matter to you. When answers are not able to be provided at the meeting, our team work to ensure that we can provide answers to your questions as soon as possible. These can be found on our website, or in our newsletters. As well as the public and the people responsible for commissioning and delivering services, we invite a range of other organisations, usually with a link to the topic that is being discussed. This provides you with an opportunity to network and use these links to access extra support or advice. Visit our website to take a look at our other Spotlight On sessions that have taken place. Q: I m a parent with 5 children, 2 have mental health conditions and my daughter had been self-harming for over 2 years. We feel that we have slipped through the net and the support she has been given has been appalling. The CAMHS support has been so sparse. A: I am happy to look into this case and find out why the level of care has been inadequate. We are currently working on a 17 week none urgent care review but most serious cases within 24 hours as priority.

6 Questions and Answers: Q: Public Health England identified that only 25% of children and young people are able to access Mental Health services timely due to a number of factors. Locally are there any statistics on how accessible mental health services are in Walsall for Children and Young People? A: We know about get treatment. Some of the timescales are not currently sufficient. We do however need to work more on prevention and get into schools early so we can help young people in early stages. Q: You mentioned about a Trust financial surplus. How quickly is this turned around to use in services? A: There has been significant investment in ADSD and community services. The difficulties are with recruiting enough specialist staff to work in some of these highly specialised services. Q: There is a fundamentally large gap in CAMHS services around the 16 to 18 year olds. I was told there is a very limited service. Can refer into CAMHS learning disability but not CAMHS. There are currently no commissioned services between 16 and 18 year olds. This is having a significant impact on transition services to adulthood of young people. A: There is currently no challenging behavioural unit in Walsall. Other comments: A representative from Walsall College highlighted that they are seeing an increase in young people coming forward with mental health support needs. The College would like to see a much closer link between the trust and college so that we are more clearer about the services students can access. It was noted that there are too many people in the criminal justice system as a result of mental health conditions. There is positive work being done but we need an even closer relationship between the Police and Mental Health Services. To be at a future meeting contact us on: info@healthwatchwalsall.co.uk Future Spotlight On Meetings are planned for Thursday 25th January, 2-4pm, Aldridge Community Centre Friday 16th March, 10am-12pm, Venue to be confirmed Contact us to reserve a seat.

7 Enter and View Healthwatch Walsall undertake Enter and View activities based on the intelligence received from the public; by selecting providers that have not had a positive CQC report; there has been a change of management or ownership at a home; or have not received a CQC visit for a length of time. The Authorised Representatives of Healthwatch Walsall have carried out five Enter & View visits since August There are three final reports currently available on our website with a further two reports in draft phase at the moment. We found some very positive practice and care during our visits. But we also made 15 recommendations, which included: better wheel chair access in some communal areas to accommodate more than one wheelchair user at tables, a plan to achieve a higher food grade rating, identify designated private area(s) away from bedrooms to meet with visitors, providers must keep eye on staffing levels at night and some physical infrastructure could benefit from updating. Positive notes included: there was a strong sense of community in the home, external activities were dementia friendly, staff were motivated and a great sense of importance has been placed on training and skills development and residents thought it was the best home in Walsall. Provider feedback: I have discussed with the staff and we have some areas which we can improve on. Thank you for the honest feedback. I would like to thank you for your visit and we have taken on board your suggestions of which a number are already in progress. Feedback is important to us, as is the care and well-being of all of our residents. We take great pride in ensuring we deliver high-quality care and facilities to make a difference to our residents and their families lives. We are continually reviewing our service provision. The catering team have been working alongside residents to improve upon the meal time experience, this includes more home cooked food and purchasing of new equipment, with more robust monitoring of systems taking place. Future Enter and View locations are being identified. They can include any of the below NHS or Local Authority commissioned service: Social Care facilities, residential and nursing care homes, Domiciliary Care arrangements and delivery. Hospital Wards. GP surgeries. Pharmacies. Dentists Opticians etc. If you wish to highlight a venue for Healthwatch Walsall to carry out an Enter and View then please call: or Info@healthwatchalsall.co.uk. Enter and View Since August, five Enter and View visits have taken place, three reports have been published on our website, another two are in draft phase. They include provider feedback and our recommendations. These include: Delves Court Care Home Parklands Court Nursing Home Anson Court Residential Home We have two further reports on the way, which are currently in draft form, regarding two most recent Enter and View visits undertaken at: Mill Lodge Care home Rushall Care Centre Want to know more about our Enter and View reports? All final reports are available on our website ready for download: Click on the image below.

8 Public Engagement Over the last 6 months we have had a real focus on raising the awareness of Healthwatch Walsall to diverse communities, groups and individuals throughout the borough. We continue to do so. Visiting community venues, events, focused service delivery centres, the local Hospital, various GP surgeries, the walk in centres, Leisure facilities and supported local events and organisers at their events. Seeking gather service user experiences and increase our support and network of members. We have spoken to over 4,000 people, visiting nearly 120 venues across Walsall promoting Healthwatch Walsall, Experience Exchange and asking them to actively share their experiences and views of the Health and Care services in Walsall. We can then act on what we are told. We have gathered a wide range of patient experiences which has helped us gather intelligence. This can then be escalated to providers and commissioners of services to effect positive change for service users. Some of the experiences, issues and concerns that members of the public have raised have been: GP access, possible changes to walk in centres in Walsall, changes to a few GP surgeries in Walsall, waiting times to see a GP. Remember to stay up to date, to know where will be next, by going to our website: Or on Walsall. Help Spread The Word Healthwatch Walsall rely on your involvement, and feedback given on service experiences, in order to effectively champion views and help to improve services for all. The more people that provide us with feedback, the better able we are to support the NHS and Social Care services to make changes that will have a positive impact on services. In order to do this, we need your help to spread the word about Healthwatch Walsall. Here are just a few ways in which you can help spread the word: Talk to your friends and family. If you hear someone complaining or complementing the service, suggest they contact us. Follow us on social media, and share news, updates and opportunities. Become a volunteer and spread the word at events.

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10 Contact us: Healthwatch Walsall 47 Bridge Street Suite 10 Second Floor Walsall WS1 1JQ Website: Tel: Tel: