National Health

Who remembers this little known 1960's track from The Kinks eh? Not HVAs funding adviser that's for sure. Anyway this morning saw a meeting of the Health and Social Care Forum a network facilitated by HVA to ensure a strong voluntary sector voice on the Healthier Hastings Partnership Board and other Social Care bodies. In a packed agenda they examined LINks - the new public involvement process being brought into being by our esteemed Govt, the PCT's own involvement strategy, their own AGM, Transport, the CVS Partnership and the future of the Expert Patient programme. probably in need of an asprin after that little lot. The whole issue about public involvement in health is proving to be alittle contentious at the moment with the need for some serious joining up to be done. We have seen the creation of the Commission for Public Patient Involvement, the development of Public Patient Involvement Forums accross the country, the abolition of the Commission for Public Patient Involvement and the stripping of many of the formal powers which the forums had. It appears that LINks (Local Involvement Networks) are the answer but having lived through the last ill-thought out attempt we will wait and see. At a local level though it was good to see some collaborative work being done between the Public Patient Involvement Group and the Health Forum. I then left the meeting to get back to the office as the Heavens absolutely opened and got soaked. Coincidentally I took shelter in the SHELTER charity shop and in return bought a strange CD I had never heard of before "Anne Von Otter Meets Elvis Costello" goodness alone knows what this collaboration will actually sound like mind you but 99p was a small price to pay for the experiment.