About Us
NOTTINGHAM CITY LINk UPDATE
Purpose of the LINk
Local Involvement Networks (LINks) aim to give citizens a stronger voice in how their health and social care services are delivered.
LINks are self determining and independent. The LINk is made up of local people, community groups and organisations to ensure that local views are listened to.
LINk gives the chance for people to have a say and suggest ideas to help improve services. The LINk can monitor local services and use their powers to hold them to account.
The role of the host is to provide support and facilitate the work of the LINk. A significant proportion of this support is raising awareness of the LINk by engaging and working in partnership with local people, community groups and organisations.
LINk Consultation
The first Nottingham City LINk consultation was held on the 28th of July. This event was influential in the formation of the LINk. Attendees were asked to decide on a model for the LINk – the number of members on the steering group – whether members will be elected or selected – key planning priorities for the LINk and Host team.
LINk Model
The LINk steering group was formed following the first consultation event – via selection. People who attended the consultation put themselves forward as Steering Group members and started working on setting up the LINk. The Steering group decided to structure the LINk like a spider diagram with the steering group in the middle as the main decision making body (highest level of participation) – with Working Groups (WG) branching off to address particular aspects of the LINk for example, Communications WG, Governance WG (meet once a month) – and specific Task and Finish groups to look at a particular community concern (combination of professionals, voluntary organisations, service users and individuals). The wider participants can raise issues as required and are involved when carrying out consultations, questionnaires and surveys.
The steering group decided to register the LINk as a Company Limited by Guarantee to have an appropriate level of liability cover for the members, be more independent, and for flexibility to become a Charity to source further funding opportunities. Registration is nearing completion, and a final copy of the Memorandums of Association and Articles of Association has now been approved.
The current Steering Group has a standing item on the agenda to discuss the priorities and issues raised by the public, and are looking at an appropriate model to process all of these details.
Staff Recruitment
The Nottingham City LINk staff team has been in place since mid-July. The Host support team consists of a Team Leader, two Senior Community Engagement Workers one specialising in Communications and the other in Research, one BME specialist Community Engagement Worker, two Community Engagement Workers and an Office Administrator.
Governance and Insurance
All the necessary Governance documents were signed off at the end of December 2008 coinciding with the Department of Health deadline. The Governance documents were drafted by the host team, and amended as agreed by the Steering Group members.
The City LINk has private insurance cover for all LINk members with AON Insurance. The insurance cover was signed and paid for in mid December 2008.
Communications
Volunteers have been working closely with the LINk team to develop a brand and identity for the City LINk. The group have developed promotional material including, LINk packs, registration forms, information booklets and merchandise.
In addition the LINk team is working on various campaigns to engage new participants, this includes, meetings, seminars, presentations and attendance at events across the city. The LINk is also establishing working partnerships and joint working opportunities with existing groups and organisations, as well as participating in various local, regional and national consultations.
The LINk hosted an official launch event of its services after the completion of the elections of a Board of Directors – “Changing Views…Changing Lives; Understanding Health Inequalities in Nottingham”. The event was held in the City Council House and attended by members of the community, service providers and representatives of voluntary sector organisations. Please refer to the “News” section for further information. A feedback report will be available soon in the “Publications” section of this website.
The City LINk also participated in the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) event that took place in the City centre – “Culture In Care”. There were two elements to the event, a conference on the 17th of April and a consultation and awareness event on the 22nd of April. The event consulted local BME communities on their experience of accessing to health and social care services and with the objective of identifying barriers to care.
Elections and Recruitment to LINk
The Steering Group has chosen to re-elect a third of the steering group members for the purpose of continuity and this process took place at the end of March. The third of members elected then became the Company Board of Directors needed to complete the company registration. The election model agreed includes electing a further five members from the database of LINk participants, with the option of co-opting members onto the Board of Directors once the nine directors are in place. Co-opted members don’t have a right to vote however, have the same role of the other Board of Directors in terms of decision making – this facilitates the involvement of more professionals from statutory bodies.
The host team is continuously promoting the LINk to increase the number of participants registered. The Community Engagement Workers are actively recruiting members to the LINk via mail shots, attending residence and tenant group meetings, community events, Your Choice Your Voice events around the city, service user forums, patient forums and carer forums, voluntary sector forums, joint working with LAA Partnerships, in close collaboration with Health Action Officers and area Neighbourhood Management teams.
Work plan
Since the Government launch of LINks in April 2008, the Nottingham City LINks key focus has been creating their structure and governance. The LINk has developed the underpinning processes of how they prioritise and action issues from the community. The LINk has run a pilot of their scoring system to prioritise existing issues and the process of allocating task and finish groups where appropriate. The LINk Work Plan for April 2009 to March 2010 has been developed and is currently being implemented. Please go to the “Publications” section to view a copy. The core work streams for this year are as follows:
1) Identify Disabled access issues to Dental and GP services
2) Make recommendations to improve public transport links between the City’s medical Centre
3) Explore the local perception of the success of the LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) sites
4) Establish the problems service users face at hospital discharge.
If you are interested in finding out more about Nottingham City LINk please don’t hesitate to contact one of our Community Engagement Workers through our head office. Alternatively, we are happy and eager to come along to community groups, self help groups, support groups or any voluntary sector organization meeting to give a presentation on the LINk and identify how the LINk can support you!
