Manchester, Lancashire and Warrington LINks
Vist the Manchester LINk website
Visit the Lancashire LINk website
Visit the Warrington LINk website
Visit the Wigan LINk website
What is the Local Involvement Network (LINk)?
The LINk is a network of local people, organisations and groups that want to make Health and Social Care services better.
LINks gives everyone in the community – from individuals to voluntary groups – the chance to say what they think about local health and social care services and their experiences. The LINk is a way of telling the people who purchase, provide and manage local services what is working and what isn’t, as well as suggesting ideas that could make services better. The LINk hasn’t taken over from the groups already working in and for our community, but is a way of bringing people and groups together. Each LINk is slightly different because it has been set up in a way that best suits the local community. LINks has been shaped around the needs and interests of its community.
The LINk makes it easier for everyone’s voice to be heard and ensure that their views about local services are listened to and answered.
What does the LINk do?
The LINk is involved with a wide range of issues and carries out a variety of tasks and activities.
The LINk’s main job is to:
• Give everyone the chance to say what they think about their local health and social care services – what is working well and what is not so good.
•Give everyone the chance to check how health and social care services are planned and run.
• Feedback what has been said about services so that things can change for the better.
How has LINk been set up?
All councils received money from the Department of Health to use to set up the LINks.
This money has been used to put a support agency in place. In Manchester, Lancashire and Warrington, this is the Black Health Agency – a local organisation that has been supporting involvement in health for a number of years. One of the most important jobs for the support organisation is to provide the LINk with practical support so that it can carry out its activities and fulfil its role in improving local services. The first job for the support organisation is to let people know that the LINk has started and how they can get involved to make services better. The support organisation will help the LINk members to:
• Do the work of the LINk
• Let people know how to get involved and what’s happening
• Look at how decisions will be made
• Keep records about how the LINk money is spent
• Work with a range of local organisations
Why has the LINk been set up?
The LINk has been developed as a new way for people to have a say on health and social care services.
There has been a long tradition of patient and public involvement with NHS organisations, but the government saw that people have needs which cover both NHS organisations and Social care services provided by the Local Authority. The LINk helps people to say how health and social care services can be improved.
What ‘powers’ does LINk have to do its job?
The LINk has certain powers so that it can help to improve local services, these include:
• Making reports and recommendations for example to local NHS Trusts or the Council, and getting a reply to these within a set amount of time
• Asking for information and getting a reply within a set amount of time
• Visiting some types of services to see what they do
• Receiving a response to any matter the LINk reports to the Councillors on an Overview and Scrutiny Community (OSC) so that further investigations and action can be taken if needed
Who can be part of the LINk?
The LINk is open to everyone and should represent the whole community.
Groups, individuals and organisations all have a part to play giving their views about local services. The LINk has been set up to ensure that all of the different groups and types of people that make up Manchester have lots of different ways to join in.
Why is the LINk different?
You don’t have to become a ‘Member’ of the LINk to have your say, local people will be able to choose how and when they want to get involved. Sharing your views doesn’t have to mean filling in a form or sitting in a meeting, and the LINk needs to hear about how you want it to work with you.
Details of how to contact your local LINk can be found at the bottom of the page.
We want you to tell us:
• What your concerns are
• What you think works well so we can make sure good services continue
• Any gaps in services that you think should be provided