Readers panel
Readers are being called to help ensure hospital information leaflets are understandable and well presented. The readers’ panel run by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is made up of volunteers who read through patient information leaflets created by the Trust before they are published. They can check for accuracy, readability and proofread each of the leaflets to ensure they are successful in getting the message across and are easy for members of the public to understand. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the readers’ panel should fill in the attached form, or send their name, address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address to: Patient Experience Department, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Grantham and District Hospital, 101 Manthorpe Road, Grantham, NG31 8DG.
Special interest groups/patient groups
Would you like to learn more about being a participant in a research study?
ULHT is a research active Trust, and you may be asked if you wish to be in a study, if you are admitted to hospital. Some studies are also conducted within the community. Your group may wish to know more about what this entails, and have other questions you’d like to ask. If you would like someone to speak to your group, then please contact Rose Brown, Chair Lincolnshire Research Patient and Public Forum, Email: [email protected]
Would you like to influence improving new treatments through research within United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust? Lincolnshire Research Patient and Public Forum (LRPPF)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) support Patient and Public (PPI) in the research process carried out in health care settings. Our Forum is based within United Lincolnshire Hospitals (ULHT), and has some liaison with the University of Lincoln (UoL) and supported by United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.
The aims of the Forum are
- to improve people’s experience in clinical trials and their outcomes
- to provide advice on research proposals from a patient/carer perspective
- to support shared decision making between service users and health professionals
- to advise the Lincolnshire Clinical Research Facility (LCRF) and the Trust on the direction of high quality research, training and embedding a research culture
- to assist and influence the Trust board, senior management and clinicians to ensure clinical trials are part of the Trust’s core business
- to ensure Trust clinical research has a patient/carer focus
- to provide independent unbiased advise and support to new patients undertaking clinical trials
- to increase public understanding
- ensure research is accessible to all
Membership of the LRPPF is open to patients/carers who have been, or are about to be, involved in medical research, or are interested in medical research. It is a voluntary role, and travel expenses are paid. Meetings are held every three months. If you are interested, please contact Rose Brown, Chair Lincolnshire Research Patient and Public Forum, [email protected]
Integrated personal budgets
Healthwatch Lincolnshire would like to gather public and patient voices and therefore we have contacted you in order to enlist a number of additional organisations to support this part of the project. We would like to engage with your service users/clients who are
- in receipt of a personal budget (PB)/personal health budget (PHB) (which they may refer to as a direct payment) in order to discuss and assess the benefits of receiving PB/PHB to improve messages given;
- in receipt of a personal budget/personal health budget (which they may refer to as a direct payment) in order to discuss and assess any barriers to receiving and using PB/PHB and how these may be overcome;
- people who are aware of the process but not in receipt of a personal budget/personal health budget and why they chose that option
- people who may qualify for a personal budget/personal health budget but are not aware of the process and provision
- to discuss any of the above with family carers of people who fall into any of the above categories
‘If your social worker has assessed that you need care and support, you will be allocated an amount of money to pay for services to meet those needs. This amount of money is called your personal budget. Some people choose to manage their personal budget as a direct payment.’
‘A personal health budget is an amount of money allocated for you to support your healthcare and wellbeing needs. It works in a similar way to direct payments and personal budgets for support from social services but a personal health budget comes from the NHS.’
Alongside this, Healthwatch Lincolnshire has invited a group of professionals who are actively involved in planning and delivery of personal budgets/personal health budgets and those who provide support to recipients of PB/PHB to work together. It is hoped that any information received from the above activity will be fed directly into these meetings which will keep the project live and current and the meetings will therefore be able to discuss current issues.
As part of this group it is intended that we will look at
- what is a personal budget, a personal health budget and continuing health care, as it is necessary to understand what each one is to avoid confusion;
- who qualifies for PB/PHB/Integrated health care budget and what are the criteria;
- the benefits of receiving PB/PHB and how it can be used;
- the barriers to receiving PHB; how these can be overcome.
Please email [email protected] if you are interested in taking part.