Devon Local Involvement Network

From April 2008 Local Involvement Networks (LINks) will replace existing Patient and Public Involvement Forums. LINks are being established in order to strengthen and extend the influence local people have on health and social care services and enable them to have a strong voice in how services are planned and run. Anyone can become involved with the LINk from health and care service users, voluntary organisations and community groups to individual members of the public. The Local Involvement Network for Devon will be supported by EDVSA, on behalf of DACVS an independent 'host organisation', commissioned by Devon County Council.

About the Devon LINk

The LINk will be a network of local people, organisations and groups that want to make health and social care services better. Its membership can include any person or any group, for instance it might include:

• individuals
• youth councils
• neighbourhood renewal networks
• Foundation Trust governors
• faith groups
• minority ethnic groups
• service user support groups
• older people's forum
• local business groups
• patient transport groups
• carer groups/network
• patients' groups
• self-advocacy groups
• tenants groups
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It will not matter whether services are provided by the NHS, a local authority, private company, social enterprise or a charity, as long as they are paid for by public funding they will be covered by the LINk. This includes, for example, day centres and care homes, hospitals and GP surgeries, as well as health promotion.

What will the LINk do and what are its powers?

The job of a LINk is to:

• Give everyone the chance to say what they think about their local health and social care services - what's working well and what's not
• Give people the chance to check how services are planned and run
• Feedback what people have said about services so that things can change for the better

The LINk will have a range of powers so that they can say how local services should improve. It will be able to:

• Make reports and recommendations and get a reply within a set amount of time
• Ask for information and get a reply within a set amount of time
• Go into some types of services to see what they do
• Tell elected politicians on an Overview and Scrutiny Committee what they have found and get a response
  

Have your say

If you feel passionately about local health and social care services or have an experience you want to share (good or bad) so that services can better meet the needs of the people that use them, register your interest as below. By registering your interest you can be kept informed from the start; but even if you are not interested right now you can feed into the LINk at any point in the future by making contact at that time.

How to register your interest

Whether you wish to be directly involved, or just kept up to date with progress, you should register your interest in the Devon Local Involvement Network (LINk). You can do this:-

By emailing: [email protected]
By writing to:
Devon LINk
Newholme Volunteer Centre
Northcote Lane
Honiton EX14 1NH

www.edvsa.org.uk