Date: 06 April 2008 16:59

COUNTY COUNCIL createS NEW 'LINK' WITH THE PUBLIC

Cambridgeshire County Council has become one of the first local authorities 
in the country to create a new way for people to have their say on health 
and care services.

A Government White Paper 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say, set out a 
commitment to create services centred on the needs of the individual and 
local communities and placed a requirement on every local authority with 
responsibility for social services to set up a Local Involvement Network 
(LINk).

LINks are a new network of organisations and individuals, which will build 
on existing community networks. LINks replace and build on the work of the 
Patient and Public Involvement Forums (PPIF's).

The County Council has contracted the services of a 'host' organisation to 
support and guide the LINk. The contract has been awarded to Cambridgeshire 
ACRE.

Cambridgeshire's LINk will make it easier for local people to say what they 
want from health and social care services, to talk to the people who run 
them and to check their work.

LINks cover all health and social care services that are funded by the 
taxpayer. The role of LINK will be to:

* Give everyone the chance to say what they think about their local health 
and social services - what is working well and what is not so good
* Give people the chance to check how these services are planned and run
* Provide feedback on what people have said about services

County Councillor Lister Wilson, who Chairs the Cambridgeshire Health and 
Social Care Scrutiny Committee, said: "The LINk network will be a vital link 
in the chain of quality control and checking process for all health and 
social care services in the County and give local people a real opportunity 
to have their say on the services they receive and how they would like to 
see services change and develop in the future."

For further information go to:
www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/social/localinvollvednetwork

John Reynolds