Watch Out Transparency's About - BEN PCT's Spends Over 25k

Transparency of Public Funds Spend:

Below are the documents relating to the spend of public funds for this PCT

Click to return to list of PCTs

BEN Month 01 2010 11 over 25k

BEN Month 02 2010 11 over 25k [27/10/2010]

BEN Month 03 2010 11 over 25k [27/10/2010]

BEN Month 04 2010 11 over 25k [27/10/2010]

BEN Month 05 2010 11 over 25k [27/10/2010]

BEN Month 06 2010 11 over 25k [27/10/2010]

BEN All payments over 25k Nov 2010 [24/12/2010]

BEN All payments over 25k Dec 2010 [19/01/2011]

All payments over 25k Jan 2011 [17/02/2011]

BEN All payments over 25k Oct 2010 [11/11/2010]

All payments over 25k Feb 2011 [10/03/2011] *New*




From Source Here

Stability For Who? Did You Get Your Therapy Yet?

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IAPT as it is known, in short means "Improvement In Access for Psychological Therapies". For years its been rolling out here and there and yet in the area of what should have been patient choice it avoided that - instead becoming a DWP related prefered model of choice to tighten up the nuts and bolts in an economy without too little export led engineering anyway ... The whole country has not been fit for purpose for years .. Deluded by bureau-jobs and a growth in the "middle classes"

But....has access to therapy improved in Birmingham ? Who knows as yet . Who knows what the Birmingham public really thinks ? Who knows whether psychological therapy in Birmingham is aiding more people in Birmingham to discuss life's distresses and not take pills and be open to possible side effects and delayed connection of what should be social and psychological connections ? Who knows very much ?

We at UserWatch hope someone runs a survey soon that is owned by the public and for the public because a considerable amount of money was shunted through trainees in 2009 - 2010 (£2.6 million) and its time the public experience was tested.

Rumours persist that so far an IAPT contract or set of contracts to serve Birmingham has not been finalised as yet . Meanwhile Patient Choice creeps on and on and perhaps in a few years it will become real . It may be hit by a tsunami of needs though as the welfare tectonic plate state creates crushing misery and slavery like conditions for some to survive in .

GP consortia in Birmingham are quite slow and far behind in their social psychological knowledge and arguably in the need to organise and localise more supply and provide real choices that are not simply 3rd sectorised for under-cutting value .

The BSMHF Trust looks set to try to plug the gap with an attempt to create a 5 year contract but will it succeed ? Will outgoing PCT commissioners favour that ? Will GP consortias in Birmingham be ready to take on IAPT responsibilities ? Where there is a lot of "will's", there's chaos ...

Its worth reading Sue Turner CEO's feb 2011 report and what she has to say . It reveals to a mapping out of GP consortia's in Bham set along PCT boundary type lines ..

CEO's REPORT


CLICK ON IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE

Bham PCT Merger Is Ruled As Against Patient Choice

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Yep its some GP out on the edges in Birmingham as the NHS empire reshapes.

It seems some slick movements by the South Bham PCT and others in B'ham contravenes the Patient Choice agenda quite seriously according to the Co-operation and Competition Panel take a look below . Mind you in mental health "choice" is highly likely to be stitched up with 3rd Sectorisation and the cheap as chips volunteering-economy ..

What will the difference between slavery in the future and volunteering ? Volunteering is done without chains and whips, but god knows how all these volunteers will be supported when the welfare state and benefits are unlikely to support their needs in an economy of illusions. Yet this development with other parts of health is interesting - who knows maybe in time the new Charity-State in mental health provision will be honest and become businesses. We advise that you stop being suckers though and just stop doing the lottery. Save your money for your locality not the newly re-adjusting middle classes .

SEE THE DOCUMENT ABOUT BHAM PCT'S

Extract below from the Co-operation and Competition Panel

" EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Feb 2011

1. The Cooperation and Competition Panel (CCP) has reviewed the proposed merger of the community services provider arms of South Birmingham PCT, Birmingham East and North PCT and Heart of Birmingham PCT. Our advice to the Department of Health is that the merger as currently constituted is not consistent with Principles 9 and 10 of the Principles and Rules for Cooperation and Competition (Principles and Rules).

2. The CCP concluded that the merger between the three PCT provider arms in Birmingham will reduce patient choice and competition and thus give rise to material costs to patients and taxpayers in relation to the provision of: District nursing and Health visiting services across the three PCTs in Birmingham; and Universal children’s services in Birmingham East and North PCT and South Birmingham PCT.

3. The CCP also concluded that the vertical integration of the acute elective dental services provided by the provider arm of South Birmingham PCT with the community dental services provided by the provider arm of Heart of Birmingham PCT, a provider of community services that holds gate-keeping responsibilities equivalent to those of a GP, is likely to undermine the GP gatekeeper function and hence give rise to costs to patients.

4. Together with this report, the CCP is publishing for consultation with interested stakeholders an invitation to comment on suitable remedies to address the adverse effect on patient and taxpayers identified in this report. Comments on this notice should be provided by 4 March 2011 and we plan to publish our remedies recommendations in March 2011. "

AND BELOW FROM HEALTH SERVICE JOURNAL March 10th 2011

"The Cooperation and Competition Panel has ruled outright against a merger between two trusts for the first time.

Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Foundation Trust had wanted to merge with Suffolk Mental Health Partnership Trust.

The move would also have allowed Suffolk to achieve foundation status as part of the merged organisation.

But the panel said the merger would result in the removal of “close competition” for contracts from three primary care trusts, due to the lack of other credible competitors within the area.

Any benefits accruing from the merger were too small to outweigh the adverse effect from the reduced competition, the panel said."

Birmingham Carers Association Petition Goes To 2166

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YES ITS GONE TO 2166 Petitioners !!

THEY ARE BRILLIANT !

The Petition was headed: "Cuts to Care Services"

The front page of the petition stated:

"Thousands of Carers looking after sick or disabled relatives are living in fear that following the devastating reductions to council budgets from Westminster Government, support for families with caring needs will be cut.

If councilors cut care and support services: families with caring needs will be pushed to breaking point and their health and life chances will suffer; older and disabled people will lose their independence and need higher levels of care sooner; carers juggling work and care will be forced to give up work to care full time for loved ones."

What is curently happening in Birmingham UK will be repeated across the country : the money for care is going to be cut for those classified as with "substantial" needs under an assessment process known as Fairer Access to Care Services (FACS) . This will leave only the "critical" banding as those who will receive help . (See FACS at the DOH 2010)

UserWatch says : If you were not classified as "critical" before, you are likely to be if your "substantial" needs do not get met because lack of help for people in the substantial banding of assessed needs is arguably going to make them worse .

The Bham City Council UK claim they will have factored in a £15+ million (coming across from PCT's) to share across the 3rd Sector to compensate partly and allow more support that way . The detail though is that those assessed as "substantial" will only be "signposted" to this new strategy and it is uncertain what the effects will be . Will it be a reviewable process every 3 months ? It ought to be considering some people are heading for care problems with all of this ..

See Birmingham Carers Association .

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NALM Creates Its Health Watch Visions

While Money The KID is in the Hangscape The Visions Come

But think about this before you read the National Association For Local Involvement Network Members (NALM) statement of vision for the future below :

What is "national" and "local" now really ? Is the internet evolution we have been heading towards where all the old Gov't institutions in-formationally merge and are made sense of at the point of the local computer ? Shared social seas of consciousness ? Who needs as much of the Newspaper-media now as we did 30 years ago ? Do we need "national bodies"? Who needs to lead who in a de-bureaucratised consumer driven health economy? Will Health Watch be local , or kind-of "centralised" in a local way by the Local Authority bureau-barons ... The tendency is always the massing of power even in a democracy because shoaling citizens may need protections from the shark State and the State wants to govern and demand obedience .. Its all going to play out in the next few years of pain where the weak and old will be picked off but who knows maybe the public will wake up in rage or vigour and creativity from the partial sovietisation of public services .

Coming up :
Its the decade of the
Growing wreathe
For the law of the jungle
Is underneath

Over to NALM

National voice for LINks’ members :

A VISION OF SUCCESS FOR HEALTHWATCH

Mission Statement for Healthwatch:

“Healthwatch is the consumer champion for health and social care services, giving a voice to local people, community and voluntary groups to influence the way their services are planned, purchased and provided.”

Successful local HealthWatch will be:

Influential: HealthWatch will be - and be seen to be – a key, valued and respected player working in partnership with local providers, commissioners, health and wellbeing boards, public health services and communities, to co-design and scrutinize local services on behalf of local people. Its credibility will be enhanced through the knowledge and experience gained in supporting individuals. HealthWatch will have good and effective links with local communities and with the voluntary sector and will have a duty to engage and involve. It will add value to local efforts to promote active citizenship, public health and community engagement.

Independent and well-resourced: HealthWatch will be – and be seen to be – independent and strong, and will be effectively managed, supported and equipped to reach into the community.

Supportive: Visible, accessible, and responsive, and providing valued support to individuals seeking help to understand and navigate local services, or to obtain redress. HealthWatch will clearly cover and be seen to cover both health and social care

Built on success: HealthWatch will not be a complete departure from current arrangements, but will build on local strengths in LINks, scrutiny, community engagement, advocacy and public involvement. It will draw on the expertise and commitment of LINks volunteers, while widening the pool of those involved. HealthWatch will add value to – and not undo - things that are already working well at local level. HealthWatch will continue to evolve in response to local needs, opportunities and circumstances, and not have imposed on it a fixed set of arrangements.

Supported: HealthWatch will thrive in an environment where there is a collaborative approach to the design, delivery and monitoring of services at local level and where commissioners and providers actively seek to involve patients, service-users and communities.

A successful National HealthWatch will be:

Independent, democratic and credible - and seen to be.

Intelligent – in its ability to gather, marshal and deploy local intelligence

Influential – with key national players, in particular the National Commissioning Board and CQC, based on its intelligence and connections.

Well-connected – to local HealthWatch whose work it will promote at a national level.

Valued by local HealthWatch – as a result of the support and guidance it provides and its influence with national players.

February 2011

"V" for Vacancy - Can LINK Core Groups Survive

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Picture Courtesy Of Roy Corbison

Pictured above , once the fuller apple but finally eaten by elected worms, a brave Local Involvement Network (LINK) Core Group member shows their determined "V" for Vacancy stance .....

When asked about their stance they stated :

"Emptiness is fine - after all, you can slide down it forever .. You know , after the public money we used up ....

So it's onward to the Health Watch yellow prick road - somewhere out there over the lovely blue Cameronbow...... There's probably a pot of blue gluey mess at the end of it too ..

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Anonymous Interview With Birmingham LINK Core Group Member

Birmingham LINK Core Group member's Identity disguised

UserWatch was contacted by email by someone (CG Anon) who has served on the Birmingham Local Involvement Network (LINk) Core Group (a social care and health monitoring group consisting of volunteers who get expenses) and issues were raised of what is happening and has been happening at the Birmingham Local Involvement Network (LINk).

the Birmingham LINk will have cost £1.6 million by the time it ends in 2011 . It may transfer into a new Health Watch body which the Government seems to believe is the new way forwards . It may be dumped though too because of its awkward performances .

UW: What has made you want to speak out about the Birmingham LINk to UserWatch ?

CG ANON : Well the Birmingham Evening Mail first highlighted problems in early 2010 of what actually was caused by amateurism at the LINk . The training was poor and others too have made the points that the LINk became kind of locked into inaction or diversionary actions in 2009 . It had started poorly in 2008 convincing itself it had re-invent all the good practice wheels and to have a Core Group with elections for that.

That has ended up being an expensive mistake .

UW: How do you mean expensive ?

CG ANON : Well it has been expensive in a number of ways . The cost of LINk elections have been well over £3000 and I know of two at least and when you consider there has only been under 250 voters at best for a Birmingham wide body , the expense is just not justified. It creates lost opportunities for good work elsewhere . It diverts money unreasonably . These thngs are being said by other LINk members who want reform . The other sad fact is some people without real experience of being involved in the practical aspects of social care service user and health monitoring have been attracted to the LINk for the wrong reasons ......... Although I am not going to go into detail here. Maybe later ...

Expensive too, because the Core Group was supposed to be "strategic" in value and just has not been that at all . Several members of it are disgusted that even now we still do not have properly agreed upon Standard Operating Procedures that people have faith in.

UW : So you think there have been failures ?

CG ANON : Oh yes , and there has been a lack of serious and effective scrutiny on the LINk as to how it was performing and Birmingham City Council also missed a real chance to put matters right far earlier in 2009 because it treated the LINk far too independently.

The problem is too that the LINk Core Group appear to have played into the imperial belief that merely by going to a few meetings with people in in "higher places" and Bham City Council's Adult and Communities that somehow that was strategically representing the LINk . In fact some of us are aware that very poor reporting back about meeting has occured and therefore others on the LINK have not been tipped off about policy type directions that the services were travelling in . How was that strategic?

UW : So lets get this right . The LINk has a small voter base and that could give rise to just a few people with their supporters determining its directions and its is also poorly performance managed by Birmingham Council ?

CG ANON : Yes , that is an interpretation that quite a few people have come to . This is why elected LINk Core Groups do not make sense and it has been said more recently by disheartened LINk members that a qualification for working on the LINK has to be a working and performance managed one.

UW: Are you saying that elected representation is bad then ?

CG ANON : Of course not . Democracy matters but the LINk really ought to be about performance driven engagements and monitoring social care and health services . It should not be driven by using precious money to pay for elections that cannot be justified on a voter base that shows that not enough Birmingham people are not interested in that.

The LINk has really missed the point too of not seeing there is already a elected representative base in the local councilors that should have been really engaged with . Why duplicate that idea and actually do it badly ?


UW: So what is the solution .

CG ANON: Well it has to be down to getting well trained people who can do the volunteer job of properly monitoring social care and health services with performance managed methods and there is no doubt some of the more genuine action groups on the LINk have developed those alone with little Core Group input because the experience was not always inside the Core Group, although some has been .

UW: Yeah, but what about public engagement and how could you build that with those ideas?

CG ANON : Well.... I can now see some of the action groups on the LINk have got it right in so far as they build public interest and engagement by practical actions that create reputation and a few of them have been showing this . The problem is we may have got wiser too late and this kind of way forwards should have been happening inside 2009 which was wasted on creating election structures and endless changing rules which we might have adopted from pre-existing good practice sources .

UW: So who is to blame or at fault here

CG ANON : Well I have read up a great deal now after coming into the Local Involvement Network scene . The Department of Health of course dismantled so much under the last Labour Govt . First , the Community Health Councils went and the Commission body which steered the next phase of patient and public involvement development were under orders not to allow CHC's as they lost power , to interfere with the then 2003 created Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums .

You can read these things inside records of parliamentary proceedings. The LINk idea was yet another change in 2008 which broke faith inside people some of whom were good PPI health monitors and many left the arena which meant inexperience took over again and again.

Inexperience when its not properly assisted either or checked properly by the Local Authority that should have performance managed its contract with more backbone finally creates its own defensive lack of insights . Failure is difficult to own . That has been been said by a few people now on the Birmingham LINk

It appears too no manuals of PPI good practice were created as exit strategies and therefore loss of experienced people also meant loss of a monitoring culture. This culture of public volunteers who can monitor service behaviour well is for instance really needed inside issues of learning disability , dementia , physical disability, and parts of mental health where finally the patient choice culture may not be the future driver for more quality .

UW : Okay, thanks for the email exchanges with parts of UserWatch . Are you going to keep in touch?

CG ANON : Well no doubt UserWatch will be monitoring the Birmingham LINk . I hope you are fair and see that a few people meant well but as for others you can judge for yourself . I will stay in touch and keep a watch on you lot too .

UW : We love attention and we have a few people in Birmingham that we will contact to keep these channels open that watch the LINk . It all sounds a bit sad really but thanks for speaking out .


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Gerry Who Says Don't Vote For Me Wins A Seat !

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Well its been done ! A man who is a clearly a principled critic of the Birmingham Local Involvement Network (LINK) a health monitoring body and who said " Do not vote for me " has been elected into one of the 7 Core Group seats . (SEE SOURCE )

UserWatch has been contacted by several members of parts of the the astonished Birmingham Public who mostly were laughing about this ... One of them said :

"This strange LINK body which seems to be half filled with genuine health monitors and half filled with some ego chameleons has yet put on another mysterious display which bedazzles - but this man Gerry made sense in being really critical of how money has been wasted and some of us hope he creates a serious check on stopping the empty ego-antics of some posers and helps to aid more real health monitoring in Birmingham "

From papers we had sent to us Gerry's election address to those who appeared eligible to vote, strangely not everyone in Birmingham , stated :

"£82,249 wasted on research ? £52 ,000 on radio adverts ? Why ?

LINK members should question accountability and responsibility for our money , stop expenditure on expensive lunches , laptops and employing personal assistants for any Core Group member . Who controls the LINK , where is the accountability , investigations into LINK workings not published , good staff gone , a bitter tasted left ? Do not vote for me ."


Go go go Gerrrrryyyy ......

It seems from the information reaching us through PCT and other gossip networks that the Bham LINK is conflicted with those who really seem not to know what they are doing and with those that do .

What we are hearing is an effort is being made for reform and we are asking for further information on this from anyone who can send it to us . We are also picking up that "elections" wasted money and efforts when it would have been better to appoint people and train them up and test their capacity for real monitoring through making reports challenging the health and social care systems to account . Wasn't that was LINK was for?

One the best health reporters in Bham named Alison Dayani needs to get into these strange-world "don't vote for me" stories . Where oh where is Alison ? BIRMINGHAM NEEDS HER !

Please report on Birmingham Health Wonderland stories . Alison in Wonderland follow that LINK white rabbit now ..

UW

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Red And Blue Bollox Mental Health Delusions And China Does Not Exist

Oh go on, and Click on the letter - make it bigger

Injure your sensibilities and scream ... After Labour selling everyone out and making them middle class bureaucrats or uni uni uni headucated dreamlings or just imprisoned or inside charity systems of half life and death shelfware and welfare beings we all now join in missing the point of actually needing a realistic modernised respected"working class" that produces for the country on an export led basis .. Where the feck else can money come from .. Cranky banking ?

China does not exist either it fell into fantasy ocean where the rising island of BIIIIG Western Competition suddenly burps into titchronic existence .. God what total bollox ..

And instead of a proper analysis which shows up the stupid selfish class structure dreams in the UK we get : "Whack the unemployed" ....Whack the mentally ill into quick fitness for work by IAPT "Improvement in Access to Therapies" and whack whack whack .

Its sounds like a new fecking species of Tory Sadistic Duck ..

We are off to relieve ourselves - all this is making us want to whack off .. But there again we are UserWhack .. If you cannot beat them - whack off with them ..

UW

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Birmingham LINK - Free and Flawed Elections ?

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Rumours in the UserWatching and LINK-Watching community are circulating that the Birmingham Local Involvement Network is having free and flawed elections .

Free apparently for those who know how to enter them and flawed because if people in Birmingham do not realise how they can vote then they do not get a vote . A few sources contacting UserWatch now claim that only people on a mysterious database behind the scenes can vote ? HUH ?

We asked in pure-street : "WACHA-MEAN ?"

"Ah well (they said) , if you iz on the database of the LINK Host (people that do admin for the LINK) then you getz a vote ..."

So it appears that you people of Birmingham in the main are not on a database and that means you cannot get a vote on who is allegedly wasting money on your behalf .

So how useful are these election processes at the Local Involvement Network of the Birmingham Health Monitoring LINK ? Well it appears they are not useful at all because their reach is critically unsound (hardly any electorate voting ) and it diverts resources from the core duties of Monitoring Health and Social Care on behalf of the Birmingham public .

Who cares ? Does the Health Overview Scrutiny Committee in Birmingham care about processes (elections) that each time waste £3000 pounds to be "checked".

Does Deidre Alden the Chair of that committee care about this ? We guess she does and we hear maybe she is waiting for the moment to administer political chloroform on the worst parts of the LINK's practices.

Lay monitoring has its place on vulnerable groups but fanciful distractions like "elections" are a waste as opposed to training lay people to monitor properly with some of that wasted election money .

UW

At the Going Down Of the LINK In Brum ?

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Its always good to see questions being asked and it appears more are being asked about the Birmingham LINK (Local Involvment Network of Health Monitors) . One candidate in the new "Core Group" elections to be held in February it appears (?) is using the election address statement to put some pretty searching questions - see from documents we have had passed to us :

"£82,249 wasted on research ? £52 ,000 on radio adverts ? Why ?

LINK members should question accountability and responsibility for our money , stop expenditure on expensive lunches , laptops and employing personal assistants for any Core Group member . Who controls the LINK , where is the accountability , investigations into LINK workings not published , good staff gone , a bitter tasted left ? Do not vote for me ."

Now there is a person to vote for !!!

After reading further reports that are lodged with the Birmingham City Council Health Overview Scrutiny Committee on the 15th December we judge the problem lies inside the structure of LINK combined with the way it assumed many inexperienced people might skillfully monitor health .

After looking at all the Birmingham LINK's minutes on the site and alleged "training" we cannot see anything there that resembles training that would have led to services broadly being held to account in a skillful manner. On the other hand we can see several gems of good practice and they appear to have risen out of PPI Forum related practice and good-willed people . Fewer though than Birmingham people should have expected from March 2008 when the PPI fora ended to 2011 .

The diagram structure of the LINK looks cybernetic to us and scared our office dog . One citizen journalist ( from the US) asked if the diagram was of : "BORGINGHAM LINK" ?

"Have they assimilated creativity and dropped it somewhere ? "

And we replied (yeah all of we)

"Don't say that ! We never snigger at your american foul-ups like the sub prime crisis we are all bloody paying for now .. " (hah that taught them )

But here's the diagram of the Brummie hive - WHOOPS sorreeee we mean the "LINK" which may be liked by centipedes in Birmingham that like things with lots of legs

UW

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Will the Birmingham Local Involvement Network become fit for purpose ?

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Cartoon Starring HSJ Mogger

Will the Birmingham Local Involvement Network (Health Watchers)
become fit for purpose and a competent HealthWatcher ?

LINK Watching is a hobby of many in the health field . Some lay monitoring LINK's set up to monitor health (2008) have been disastrous .

The Birmingham LINK has been half limping really , here and there with some despair , and appears though to have been monitoring parts of the local health scene in Birmingham with a certain degree of competence but also it has been flat-lining around too .

Yet rumors have surfaced that it has also been used by some people to network with and so that their own self interests are looked after . Looking at the LINK records on the Birmingham LINK site reveals strengths in some lay monitoring on Kidney Dialysis and engagement with Post Natal depression that was effective . There is some good work in Mental Health with consultations being put under the microscope and challenged - the older age groups appear to be engaged with thoughtfulness .

Yet there appears a lot of dead weight in the structure of the Birmingham LINK and broad evidence of all the groups practicing good monitoring standards does not exist .

Into the beginning of 2011 comes a LINK election for "Core Group" members ... Oh dear - will this be more of the same bureau-link practice that has characterized the way public energy and money has been mis-targeted in parts of the LINKs nationally .

We have viewed one Councillor Sue Anderson's views expressed to Gov't consultation about Adult Social Care and accountability ref the Birmingham LINK on the pages where you can search the council's reports and committee minutes . The Gov't consultation asks in one document (and she answers) :

12. Would you support an assurance role for the local Health Watch in
the production of accounts?

"Yes as part of the overall arrangements. The city Council has well established arrangements for reaching out to the broader citizenship. When the Link was formed there was an optimistic expectation that it would reach out to the wider citizenship and assist in forming citizen jury’s and groups we could engage with on moves to personalisation for example. It has been disappointing to date that the Link has tended to narrowly reflect its own membership and has not reached out. The extent of the role for Health Watch will depend on its ability to reach out to the broader community and become a more representative voice and an enabler of wider consultation. The City Council would welcome and will take a lead role in ensuring Health Watch takes on this broader role so it could be relied on more as a representative body for purposes of assurance and indeed informing service development. "

Certainly viewing all the Birmingham LINK Core Group minutes does not show cross group strategic communication that is competent and fluidly effective ..

So it is with all this baggage that the new candidates joust and who might just oust some of the older structure to make new growth and far wider competent Health and Social Care monitoring in Birmingham exist

UW

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LINKS Get Stabbed Malcolm Rescues By Sheer Wayne-ish Cheek

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Well Old NALM And its NALMITE Kids have smacked the DOH's ass
regarding accidentally putting out messages to underfund Lay Health Monitoring
Local Involvement Networks. Ooo-ee those tricky little accidents ...Tut , Tut ...

Over to NALM's site for the story where Big Malk Wayne rode in :

Or read below

Today (21 January 2011), NALM met with Ian Winter, the Deputy Regional (London) Director, Social Care and Partnerships at the Department of Health, and Sarah Crossland, LINks/Local HealthWatch Policy Manager, Public and Patient Experience and Engagement Department, to discuss the Joint Improvement Partnership (JIP ) report on funding of LINks.

It was agreed that LINk should have been actively engaged in the process of preparing the report for the JIP. It also became clear that the statement that ‘the base funding for a LINk, net of population and needs weighting, has been estimated by the DH to be £80k’, is not based on DH policy. The statement has now been withdrawn.

It was also agreed that it is inappropriate for local authorities to have leverage on the work of LINks (although, of course, they do have leverage on Hosts where there is a contract). Ian Winter has apologised and has withdrawn the document.

A revised document will be produced. The meeting was positive, open and constructive and NALM appreciated the approach.

I shall let you have a copy of the revised document when it is produced. As I understand the position, the DH has funded LINks for 2011-12 at the same level as this year, plus inflation. Therefore, local authorities have freedom to fund your LINk at the same level as this year.

(Statement From Malcolm Alexander)

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And Do Not Forget To Check Your Bowels - Cancer Kills

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Oh God Its The Local Authority JabberWatchy

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Have you seen the JabberyWatchy in your Local Authority Area ?

Contact UserWatch for some PLTT - Post LINK Trauma Therapy


UW

Evidence Showing Hellth Well Being Borg With LINKs

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Toon Courtesy Of The Rivers Clan

UW

National Association For LINks Members Dubious About HealthWatch Shape?

Toon by Silvis Rivers Of The Clan De Rivers

Probably the most interesting thing happening in so called "monitoring" of health (what's left of health monitoring) is what the National Association For Local Involvement Network Members state in their response/report as a Local Authority conflict of interest to the usual DOH sludgey new "HealthWatch" tactics of screwing up public accountability in lay health monitoring terms at the behest of politicians claiming to make things "local" as opposed to "Top-Down".

But the new "localism" is already "Top-Down" because seasoned local authority watchers and bureau-spotters know that the game of the new lay "HealthWatch" control is on, and the new Health and Well Being Boards were already planned by Labour and will be shaped up functionally only slightly differently from Labour ambitions of power control with weakened lay monitor criticism of policy roll-outs because polticians underlyingly hate democracy and prefer elective dictatorship ...

Powerelessness is their trade, and without it their power dwindles - they know it ....


NALM says the following in its report of the proposals to replace Local Involvement Networks with "HealthWatch"

"4. The Independence of Local and National HealthWatch

There is a critical and glaring conflict of interests in local authorities deciding levels of funding for the body responsible for scrutinising their social care services.

Under the present legislation, LINks appear to be accountable to the Secretary of State for Health and have a membership to whom they are also accountable. This arrangement appears to confer a high degree of independence, but in some instances, LINk members have felt their independence compromised by local authorities and by Hosts. Some LINks have reported threats to their funding and actual reductions, where the LINk has resisted pressure to comply with the direction dictated by local authorities or Hosts. The three-way arrangement (LINks, local authority and Host), has not been a great success in some cases, and some LINks members would argue it has been a failure and not in the best interests of the public or the best use of public funds."


UserWatch partly agrees with NALM's insights here . What's now different in local Govt too is the recessionary context - screw the poor and cut more services . Lick ass of the the favoured banker classes telling everyone they need bonuses of billions to secure the "talent" they need for their businesses .. What fucking talent ? Talent for major losses ? Huh ? Fuck off please ..

So you know what to expect - a weakened structure of health monitoring in the new HealthWatch dominated by Local Authorities who will be funding the HealthWatch bodies that monitor their services ....

Ahh what perfect " localism"....

What is the answer ? Don't believe in this crap but find a ledge of independence anywhere you can for a view and notch your Apache arrows and pierce the contradictions ...... Let em bleed .. Because you definitely will .

NALM DOWNLOADABLE REPORT


UW

Is There An Angel Of Lansley ? What Does It Look Like ?

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Oh Yea - To Saint Silvis For The Toon


UW

Local Involvement Network Slave Volunteers Or Pathfinders ? Ask Yourself

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Art By Art De Rivers & Silvis Rivers Dec 2010

The UK Dept of Health put out bulletin on 29th December based on moving the Govt "HealthWatch" policy forwards and woven into it is a 2008 - 9 UK wide Local Involvement Networks report that shows in some parts of the UK "LINks" as it called (lay monitoring and public and patient health engagements) supported by a DOH grant to Local Authorities did kind of , half-okay.

The great missing equation 1997 - 2010 in Labour's regime in health from the mental health UserWatch position was legal and equal rights to Patient Choice hidden away even as it now inside the strangulation of "secondary care regulations" that basically bars mental health patient choices whilst the DOH was busy making sure with the likes of the (Sainsbury's) Centre For Mental Health "stabilised" psychotics were given "choices" through the Direct Payment methods of eligibility for part service choice techniques, that dot Local Authority (LA) Social Care Services here and there in the UK, uneasily waiting for the recession promoted news of possible eligibility re-bandings.......

Seasoned UserWatchers in mental health, knew this LA Social Care "DP" Direct Payment method was not "real" Patient Choice in mental health but a skewered slimmed down rationed version of it that bought of a few well deserving Users, but rejected the rest as "Socially Include-able" and readied them up for the UK cannibal welfare stews because the unproductive classes in the UK cannot sell anything abroad very well and need to trade of the bones of any part of the welfare classes . Maybe you have not noticed. China has, but the fact it has all the jobs makes it shrug its large national shoulders .

Ahhh Cannibalism, with a bit of peppered press hate thrown in ...So UK ...

Don't get us wrong we applaud volunteers trying to make things better in Healthcare but the slip and slide of Govt's is not going to stop and in the great seas of acid and greasy social compromise , volunteers will simply be used up, and in terms of LINks evolving to HealthWatch we are not so sure the Local Authorities are the best place to hand over the HealthWatch budgets to , since they are both service providers and now the likely money keepers over the HealthWatch volunteers who may monitor them ... It appears the LA's will performance review too the very people monitoring them .. What bollox that is ..

Yeah all this right at time when the social shit of the under-performing bureau middle classes who exported very little but debt, is bailed out by everyone and the new class shifting sands has not yet resulted in a serious export led creative new basis and the net displacements of paying off the debts means the LA's have to cut services ... Oh dear, the temptation to gag monitors is going to be very high.

What it all means in HealthWatching terms is likely poor performance, or ritualistic performance , and a lack of cash we'll bet, to be given to the new HealthWatcher volunteers functions.

Accountability is a serious matter but it is not taken seriously by parts of Govt and some of their bureaucracies who see out-maneovering it, as simply part of their skill set tacitally nodded to by the politicians .

DOH quote 29th Dec 2010 :

"Healthwatch will usher in a new generation of patient champions with the resources and powers to support the needs of their local communities. I hope this report will act as a call to action for members of the public and LINks volunteers to lead the way in this reform and to become the first Healthwatch Pathfinders in England."

Watch out Volunteers for the new Local Authority master and slave trails inside HealthWatch .....

UW

Dept Of Health Announce DOH-tal Eclipse Danger Jan 4th

Cheers For The Warning HSJ Mogger

Watch Out For Dat Ol' Devil Moon

Its true they announced it !!!

LINK HERE

Interim Chief Medical Officer Warning for Partial Eclipse of the Sun Jan 4th 2011

Published date:
30 December 2010

Department of Health

People could permanently damage their eyesight and even risk blindness if they look directly at the moon passing between the sun and the earth between approximately 8.00am and 9.30am on 4 January 2011, the Government's Interim Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies warned today.

The safest way to watch the eclipse is on the television or live webcasts on the internet. Observing the eclipse directly through a telescope, binoculars or camera is not safe under any circumstances. In addition, sunglasses, and photographic film are also wholly inadequate and should not be used to view the eclipse. Only specially designed solar filters (bearing appropriate CE mark*) can be used to safely view the eclipse directly.

Actually at UserWatch we are speculating that the all powerful DOH Sun Department has deliberately arranged the DOH-tal eclipse as a way of saying they are still in charge of the Universe etc ....

Gawd its like being alive inside a giant Blue Peter show with a good little audience and the Queen and her Corgis pictured over the Christmas Ghost of Val Singleton (We go way way back here )

UW

Local Authority HealthWatch Hawks Worry LINks

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Arts By ADR

HSJ Mogger keeps his head down whilst the Local Authority unleashed HealthWatch hawk attack swoops - what can we make of it all Mr Lansley , Little Weed and Bill and Ben ?

Simply put there is a growing suspicion that far from locality power really taking off in health in terms of lay people volunteering and watching what happens and whether patients get a good deal the weakened Local Involvement Networks (LINks) (weakened initially by Labour) will fall victim to Local Authority hawkishness and dominion . Watch out for the influence of Social Care arena's in the UK for they give rise to many green skinned mutant staff who fell into radioactive management pools ..

We hear the true conversations amongst UK health activists and that's the worry being voiced. Contamination by Local Authority . The strange paradox a-wing though is, why is it that UK activists are so conformist and wait for a lead from others ..... Its not rocket science to watch and ask for information and raise concerns with parts of the public, and others interested in getting a good deal for patients - so why the strange icing up of democratic soul in health activism that we have been hearing about ?

Is there a Healthberg in the UK waiting to melt and flush activities all around ? . When will democracy thaw?

UW

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Ice Sculptured The Art Of NHS Freezing Pay

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Toon by Art De Rivers Dec 2010

The Rivers art lot of multiple cheekonalities have been at it again .... It appears on the icy horizon that new ice sculptures have been crafted and the NHS slave staffies are in wobble and slip mode as the whip winds of frozen pay (in return for no compulsory redundancies) get closer and closer ..

See : Nursing Times Article

How will it affect Service Users ? Longer waiting times , concealed "waiting lists" and anything to look efficient while misery increases ..

Now maybe the Bankers need ckuffinwell burning or at least nitrogen-freezing with being chilled out on all bonuses for years ......

Still , take a good look at what we did nationally for 30 years - denuded export capacity , gave way to middle class illusions of admin work for all , or pushing supermarket trolleys. We social engineered social engineers of everyone who socially engineered everyone else - supported head-ucation head-ucation - head-ucation and became UK-unreal and made ckuf all for others to purchase that would earn our way in the world .

Germany in the EU actually preserved its industrial base though while we, riddled with old hate for the mucky busted up basic dog (now welfare) classes, start to cannibalise their disabled futures .....

Who should get back to export led real-work ? The middle classes and their expanded Blair aspirers .

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Slowly The HealthWatch Axe Falls On LINks

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STARRING HSJ MOGGER

Local Authority Viking Raiders Raise The HealthWatch Axe

Some Local Involvement Networks (LINks) in the UK have evolved to do some partly useful monitoring of patient services while others have danced about and posed daintily .....Okay Daintily is what many have done with pinky sugars on too . Sugar coated monitoring has occurred and it only means too much of the NHS service has waltzed about with shitty knickers on which were not bum wiped ....Maybe HealthWatch will have bigger magnifying glasses - LINKs telescopes appears to have been quite weak and too distantly positioned .....

Daintily is useful though, for sneaky L.A. Vikings who realise a quick swipe here and there means disposing of muscle and putting onto a sharpened stick the scalp and talking heads that might be left over ... Beware the L.A. vikings they are a-sailing and want a ritualistic life made from lappy and lippy dancing ... 1066 is sort of back and we are in for a yawning change .

UW

HSJ Mogger on Moggabout In The Letterland Deserts

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Cheek Practice by Art De Rivers

Yeah it figures .... Health Watch is just code for the reverse ... Luckily Mogger is on the trail of Inside Outery and used to know RD Llaing's cat too named "De-mystification x 10".......

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Mental Health GP Consortia Response Vehicle In Hanging Bone Desert

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Have you got the picture ? Okay who is the bone ?

Come on admit it ..... !

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Tears On The Fire Bird - The Plight Of The Phoenix Day Centre

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Protest and Witness Poetries





By Silvis Rivers Birmingham UK .

QUOTE FROM ITS ALL ABOUT THE PROPHETS

" The mental health charities Like MIND and Rethink and Together with their media class of Time to Change and others have sold out on legal rights based Patient Choice of recovery treatments and condition management. Instead they with the NHS Primary Care Trust Commsissioners (Some of them ex-NIMHE-ites) and DOH have "shaped the market" (a term in common currency with PCT's) towards themselves as the "3rd" Sector and their paid Kapo Users - who tend toward over-control of others "

PatientGuard - UserWatch

The Plight Of The Phoenix - From ashes to ashes ? The Day Centre

Chilean Miner Dog Solidarity With UK MH Users Need For Patient Choice

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Dept Of Health Takes Giant Step On Mental Health Patient Choice UK

Mental Health 13 Years Of User Illusions - What Did You Do?

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