health newsletter - NHS Ashford Clinical Commissioning Group

health newsletter
Spring 2013
Meet the team – Martin Harvey
As Lay Member of the Board for
patient and public engagement,
I will be working with the CCG
to make sure that our collective
‘patient voice’ is heard and acted
upon.
I am a retired chief executive of
a health related charity, wholly
funded by the Department of
Health, so I understand the NHS
“language” and have many
years’ experience of working with
vulnerable beneficiaries who, as
critical patients, relied upon the
NHS for their health needs.
I appreciate that it is frustrating
for patient groups trying to make
their voices heard so I hope to
encourage and motivate our
Patient Participation Groups
(PPGs). But the PPGs are only part
of the picture; new technology
gives patients other ways to get
involved. I will be monitoring the
website to make sure there is
regular patient content and will be
championing the electronic sign
up system for the Ashford Health
Network - a great way for people
to participate without having to go
to meetings.
It’s an exciting time for our CCG
and the engagement
team and I are
looking forward
to a busy 2013
working for you!
Martin
Tell us what you think
Ashford CCG would like patients to have
a say in future healthcare plans. If you
would like to see and comment on the
plans or propose new ideas, please email
ashford.ccg@nhs.net or phone 01233 658432.
We are holding our first public Board Meeting
on Thursday 11 April 2013, 9am at the Council
Chamber, Ashford Borough Council, Tannery
Lane, Ashford. Please come along to find out
about the priorities for our area.
Dealing with DNAs
GP surgeries are busy places.
With nearly one thousand GP
appointments booked each month
in just one of our practices, we need
to ensure that every ten minute
appointment is filled. However, we
are facing an increasing problem
with DNAs (patients who Did Not
Attend their appointments) and we
need your help.
A sample of missed appointments
was taken across two of our local
GP practices. On average a total of
159 appointments were missed in
December 2012. If this number of
missed appointments was repeated
over the course of one year it would
amount to a substantial level of
wasted resources. This could have
been spent on improving services for
those with dementia, supporting our
volunteer groups or supporting the
implementation of more community
based services to avoid patients
having to travel to hospital.
Please help us to cut costs, save
money and ensure resources are used
effectively - if you no longer need
your appointment or cannot make
it, please telephone your GP surgery
as soon as possible so that the
appointment can be made available
to another patient.
Join our Network
Our GPs are keen to ensure that
we listen to all our patients’
views. Your needs and priorities
influence our local health care
commissioning so it is important
that we find different ways
for people to feed back their
comments.
The Ashford Health Network
is a virtual group of patients,
members of the public and
voluntary organisations. By
becoming a member you can
decide to participate as much
or as little as you like - from
taking part in focus groups,
consultations and surveys, to just
receiving regular e-newsletters.
We need the network to
represent the whole community
so we will talk to you in person
through local meetings if you
are able to attend, or by letter,
email or social media – but don’t
worry you won’t be bombarded!
We welcome all ages and
backgrounds.
To find out more about the
Network, please email
ashford.ccg@nhs.net or follow
us on Twitter @AshfordHealth
Multi-agency
specialist centre
for disabled children
Care for disabled children and
their families in Ashford has been
transformed with the opening of
the £5 million Rainbow Centre on
the Wyvern School site, just off the
A28, last September.
The purpose-built centre brings
health, social care and voluntary
professionals under one roof,
creating a one stop shop for
disabled children, young people
and their families. Paediatricians,
speech and language therapists,
occupational therapists,
physiotherapists, specialist nurses,
dietitians, a podiatrist, a specialist
dentist, an audiologist and other
consultants, work alongside teams
from education, social services and
parent-led charities.
Are you
Food Smart?
Have you seen the recent TV
ads which expose the ‘hidden
nasties’ in everyday foods such as
sugar
in a bottle of cola
Ashford CCG would like patients to have17
their
say cubes
in
the future healthcare plans. If you wouldand
like atowine
see glass of fat in a large
pizza?
and comment on the plans or propose new
ideas,
please email ashford.ccg@nhs.net or phone 01233
The Change4Life campaign
658432.
focusses on how to manage
the amount
of salt, fat and
We are holding our first public Board Meeting
on
sugar
in our diets and includes
Thursday 11 April 2013, 9am at the Council
Chamber,
healthy
Ashford Borough Council, Tannery Lane, Ashford.eating tools, recipes
money-off
vouchers.
Please come along to find out about the and
priorities
for
our area.
It’s free to join and if you sign
up to the campaign you will
With a mixture of small and large
clinic rooms, a large
physiotherapy room, a sensory room
and soft play area, the Rainbow
Centre supports more than 2,000
Ashford disabled children and
young people with conditions such
as Down’s Syndrome, autism and
cerebral palsy as well as a range of
speech and language difficulties. By
cutting down on appointments and
travel times, the centre is making
a real difference to the lives of
disabled children and their families
in our area.
get a free ‘Food Smart Meal
Mixer’ – over 2,000 quick, easy,
healthier recipes with enough
combinations to eat a different
daily menu every day for six
years.
Food Smart details are on the
Change4Life website, including
links to supermarkets featuring
recipe ingredients currently
available as special offers. Visit
www.nhs.uk/Change4Life