Latest News

GP Access Report Goes Online

The Who Cares report into GP Access is now online for you to read. This large scale piece of research involved many members of the public and Who Cares members. If you would like to read the report then please click onto the Our Files heading on the left hand side of this page, or click this link

Who Cares Subgroups

Who Cares have four Subgroups. The subgroups will focus on the four main areas of Primary Health Care, Secondary Health Care, Mental Health and Social Care.

Membership of the subgroups are open to any Who Cares member, and you can be a member of as many of the four groups as you wish. Subgroups will meet as often as required with a large amount of autonomy resting with the groups themselves. Support with research and administration will be provided by the Who Cares host staff, but topics and work plans will be entirely decided by the Who Cares members.

Confirmed dates and venues for upcoming subgroup meetings are as follows:

Primary Care : Thursday 18 March 2010

2pm Central Community Centre on Lindum Street, Scunthorpe. 

If you would like to join a subgroup, or find out more information about any of the groups then please contact Who Cares coordinator Kristian Reed via email who-cares@vanl.org.uk

Members Priorities Wanted

Who Cares are looking to obtain the views of its members and local people about areas of health and social care provision that they feel do not meet their expectations in terms of quality, availability and relevance. Who Cares will use this information to decide which issues are of greatest concern for the people of North Lincolnshire and prioritise its work activities accordingly.

Please feel free to write down concerns about any area of health and social care; it could be an experience of treatment you or a family member have recently received, a lack of local services for a particular condition, or concern about future plans for services.

Whatever your concern may be we want to hear from you and would be greateful if you could take a few moments of your time to help us to work on the issues that are really affecting the people of North Lincolnshire.

You can fill in the survey by following this link.

New LINk Coordinator appointed

Who Cares have recently appointed a new coordinator to replace Greg who has left for pastures new at North Lincolnshire Council.

Kristian Reed has been appointed to carry on the excellent work begun by Greg and the members. Kristian has a years experience of working for Who Cares having previously been in post as the Research and Communications worker.

With there currently being only Kristian and Julie in the office for the next few weeks things are going to be a tad stretched so we ask all members to continue their fantastic support both now and in the future.

New Research and Communications Officer

Following Kristian Reed's promotion to Co-ordinator, the team returns to full strength with the appointment of Helen Kirk who joined the Who Cares team as the Research and Communications Officer in January. 

Research projects in three areas have just begun.

Hospital Discharge, Access to Mental Health Services and Teenage Pregnancy are three areas under scrutiny.  Who Cares staff are developing a methodology to capture information and experiences of the people of North Lincolnshire in these three service user areas. 

If anyone reading this feels that they are able to share experiences in any of these areas then please contact Who Cares staff at who-cares@vanl.org.uk or telephone us on 01724 845155.

Enter and View Report Goes Online

The report from the first Enter and View visit carried out by Who Cares is now available online. The report looked into standards of cleanliness at Scunthorpe General Hospital and the Enter and View representatives visited four wards. They spoke to patients as well as staff to find out their views and opinions. if you would like to view the full report then it can be read online. 

Who Cares Publishes It's First Annual Report

Who Cares has published it's annual report. This covers the time from the LINks inception in April 2008 through to April 2009.

There are two versions of the report available. The full 12 page document is in much more detail and contains all the finance results etc. The second version is a brief four page document which gives a brief overview of the activity over the year and how people can get involved.

Both documents can be read by following this link.

Who Cares Holds Annual General Meeting

Who Cares recently held it's first Annual General Meeting at the Central Community Centre in Scunthorpe.

The event was very well attended by Who Cares members, healthcare professionals from all the local trusts, and non members too. The first part of the evening saw a presentation being given by Sally Czbanciuk from the Acorns advocacy project. Sally gave an update to those gathered about the background and work which Acorns does, and how the local community can become involved.

Who Cares was also delighted to welcome six new members onto it's Executive Group. All the staff and existing Executive Group are looking forward to working with them in the future as we look to bring improvements to health and adult social care services in North Lincolnshire.

Grand Launch of Who Cares 

Brief rundown on the successful launch event.

Our NHS Our Future

High Quality Care for All.

Who Cares on BBC Radio Humberside  

On 16th July Greg Gough, the Who Cares Coordinator, and Roni Wilson, steering group member, took part in a live broadcast with the host of BBC Radio Humberside's Late Show Steve Redgrave.

Greg and Roni explained the purpose of Who Cares and how local people could take part in it. Greg said of the the experience:

"Steve is a very professional broadcaster, he made us feel at ease with his easy going and friendly nature. His interest in Who Cares was clead through the informed and specific questions he asked us"

Read the Steve's account of the show and listen to the broadcast here

Who Cares' report into the JSNA

On 18th July Who Cares hosted a public meeting to gather opinion towards the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, a document published in partnership between North Lincolnshire Council and North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust. This document outlines the strategic decisions that both organisations intend to take together to meet the health and social care needs of the population of North Lincolnshire. This current document focuses on the anticipated future needs of older residents and future documents are intended to cover the needs of other sections of the population.

Who Cares were delighted to be joined by so many people, both individuals and representatives of voluntary and community groups with an interest in older peoples care. Everybody participated to their utmost and a range of informaed and interesting opinion was given.

The results of this consultation are to be collated and a report prepared that will state Who Cares' response to this important document.