Telephone - 0300 777 6543www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk

To mark World Mental Health Day 2013 on Thursday 10th October,

Healthwatch Halton will be holding another of its popular ‘Fact or Fiction’

events. The event will be taking place between 10.00am and 1.00pm. at

the Select Security Stadium, Widnes.

The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is ‘Mental Health &

Older Adults’.

You’re cordially invited to come along to the event and join with us to

mark World Mental Health Day.

At the event you’ll be able to find out more about:

• What’s happening in Halton?

• Social care assessments

• Direct Payments

• Personal budgets

• and future personal health budgets

There’ll be guest speakers and also an opportunity for a question

and answer session with the speakers. There will also be a number of

information stalls at the event for you to visit

As with all the events we hold, it’s FREE to attend but booking is advisable

as space is limited.

If you’d like to book a place at the event please call us on

0300 777 6543 or email dwilson@healthwatchhalton.co.uk

Welcome to Issue 2This newsletter has been developed to provide you with updates and information about YOUR local Healthwatch and keep you updated on local and national health and social care related news.

0300 777 6543 Issue 2 October 2013

Out and about with Healthwatch Halton

We’ve been out meeting people, visiting

groups and attending meetings over the

last couple of months raising awareness

of Healthwatch Halton including:

• Party in the Park

• Stroke Association

• Lunch Bunch

• Local Medical Centres & Surgeries

• Parents Voice

• Umbrella

• Age UK

• Womens Institute

Where we’ll beWe’ll be having information stands at a

number of Area Forum meetings during

October,

• 2nd Oct - Beechwood/Halton Lea

• 8th Oct - Halton Castle, Norton

North & South and Windmill

• 14th Oct - Daresbury

We’ll also be at the Windmill Hill Flu Clinic

on October 7th.

A regularly updated list of when and

where we’ll be in the community is

available on the events page of our

website www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk.

If you’d like Healthwatch to come and

meet with your group please call us on

0300 777 6543

Whether you have a lung condition or care for someone who does, get in touch.

The British Lung Foundation are here to help.

Ask about joining a local Breathe Easy support group, joining the web community and penpal

scheme and the British Lung Foundation’s other services.

To find out more, please visit the British Lung Foundation website, www.blf.org.uk

Tel: 03000 030 555 e:helpline@blf.org.uk

Healthwatch volunteers help put Hospitals in their PLACE

The first ever results of a new scheme which puts patients and local people in the driving seat for assessing their local hospitals have been published.

PLACE asks patients to review their local hospital for:

• Cleanliness – including bathrooms, furniture, fixtures and fittings;

• Food – assessment of choice, taste, temperature and availability over 24 hours;

• Privacy and dignity and well being – including their changing and waiting facilities, appropriate separation of single sex facilities, telephone access and appropriate patient clothing;

• Condition – condition, appearance and maintenance of sites, including decoration, signage, linen and car-park access.

The PLACE scheme, which replaces the old Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) assessments, focuses entirely on the hospital environment and does not cover the way in which clinical care is provided or how well staff are doing their job.

We were approached by the local NHS Hospital Trusts and asked if any of our Healthwatch Halton members would like to become PLACE volunteers. These

volunteers then became part of the assessment teams that visited our local hospitals.

You can see how our local hospitals fared in the table below.

National results for PLACE assessments 2013 can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/18Zmkun

If you are interested in becoming a PLACE assessor please contact us on 0300 777 6543 and ask for Irene Bramwell

You can find the complete list of all 152 Healthwatch across England at http://www.healthwatch.co.uk/find-local-healthwatch.

Further details about this year’s PLACE assessments are available from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB11575).

Halton Warrington WhistonNat.

average

Cleanliness 98.48% 96.84% 99.96% 96%

Food 89.83% 85.45% 93.15% 89%

Privacy, dignity

and wellbeing

88.93% 89.19% 99.18% 89%

Condition and

maintenance

89.72% 86.16% 99.52% 85%

British Lung Foundation Helpline

Halton Borough Council & Halton Clinical

Commissioning Group are currently working on

a new Mental Health Commissioning Strategy for

Halton.

As part of this planning they would like to gain your

views.

You can take part in the online survey by visiting,

http://bit.ly/15aUomZ

Printed copies of the survey are also available by

contacting Liz Gladwyn, Commissioning Manager -

Disabled Adults, Communities Directorate, Halton

Borough Council, Runcorn Town Hall, Heath Road,

Runcorn, WA7 5TD. Tel: 0151 511 8120

As from 18.30 on 24th September, the telephone

number patients will need to call to speak to the Out

of Hours GP service for Halton will change to 0151 220 3685

Do you have a complaint about the care and/or treatment you have received from the NHS?

Although most people using the health service are happy with their care and treatment, things can sometimes go

wrong. If you’re not satisfied with the service you’ve experienced from a hospital, doctor, dentist, local surgery or

other NHS provider, you are entitled to complain about it.

We can help you make this complaint, by providing a

free, confidential and independent service designed to

help you understand your rights and make informed

choices.

We can: -

• Help you explore options available at every

stage of the complaints procedure

• Provide confidential support from someone

who is independent of the NHS

• Help you to write effective letters to the right

people

• Help you to prepare for meetings and maybe

even go with you

• Contact and speak to third parties if required

• Provide qualified advocates who can support

you

• Offer a range of ‘self-help’ materials if you

do not need the support of an advocate but

want some advice on the best way to make a

complaint.

Anna Read, our Healthwatch Advocate, will be running

sessions every Tuesday, 10.00am – 3.00pm at Sefton

House, Runcorn. Anna can also use other local venues

to meet clients if needed.

If you’d like to book an appointment to see Anna,

please give us a call on 0300 777 6543.

Out of Hours GP number to change

Healthwatch Advocacy service

Are you affected by sightloss?

Support is now available for you, your friends and

family from those who understand.

Sightline Vision is a registered charity that started in

2000.

Sightline is a free confidential and voluntary telephone

support helpline for individuals with visual impairment

and their families, friends and carers.

The helpline is available 6:00pm to 10:00 pm 7 days

per week 365 days a year. Manned by volunteers

who themselves, have varying degrees of visual

impairment.

Telephone: 0800 587 2252

Sefton House,Public Hall Street

Runcorn, WA7 1NGTel: 0300 777 6543

email: enquiries@healthwatchhalton.co.uk

Halton Health Improvement Team

and Halton Borough Council is

supporting the Public Health

England campaign in a bid to

help local people quit through

exciting local events and activities

throughout October.

Stoptober quitters will receive

a new stop smoking pack, a 28-

day mobile phone app and text

support with daily updates and

quitting advice, detailed tools

and tips for coping, as well as the

encouragement and support from

thousands of people quitting

together through Stoptober social

media.

People who currently smoke are

also encouraged to get in touch

with their local stop smoking

service, as research shows you are

four times more likely to quit with

this extra support than stopping

on your own.

The campaign returns as new

research shows that every day a

person goes without cigarettes

could add as much as six hours to

their lives. For the 28 day duration

of Stoptober this equals a full seven

days. Research also suggests that

if you stop smoking for 28 days

you are five times more likely to

kick the habit for good.

Last year over 160,000 people

across the UK successfully quit.

And although most people will

start their quit journey on the 1st

October, people can quit at any

time during the month and still

receive specialist support.

The campaign launches as new

figures released by local anti-

tobacco organisation Tobacco Free

Futures, estimates that there are

currently 22,548 smokers in Halton

and every year addiction to tobacco

costs the local authority £37million

through loss of productivity due to

early death and illness, NHS costs,

litter and fires.

Stoptober 2013 starts on Tuesday

1st October and runs for 28 days.

For more information

and to sign up visit www.

healthimprovementteam.co.uk

or call the Halton Stop Smoking

Service on 01928 593043.

The 28 day Stoptober app can be

downloaded from www.smokefree.

nhs.uk/stoptober.

During October, smokers in Halton are being encouraged to quit together, as Stoptober – the nation’s biggest ever mass participation stop smoking challenge – launches for its second year.

Stoptober

counts