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We invited you to ‘have your say’ on health and social care services in Suffolk and your response has been magnificent. We received many comments spread across the whole spectrum of health and social care provision in Suffolk. Some of these appear below.

Ravenswood Medical Practice - 084 Telephone Numbers

The Suffolk LINk received comments from members of the public about the cost of calling their GP surgery, which operates an 084 premium rate telephone number. These concerns were shared by the LINk Board and also the LINk BME group and discussed at length.

In April 2010 changes to the Primary Medical Services and General Medical Services regulations clarified that any practice that enters into a contract for telephone services must ensure that calls to the services will not cost more than it would cost to call a normal geographical 01473 (Ipswich example) telephone number. The Ravenswood Medical practice 084 telephone system uses a number that is not included in some phone packages and can cost more to call if using a mobile phone.

The LINk contacted the surgery and NHS Suffolk to express your concerns and as a result the Ravenswood Medical Practice has agreed to operate a parallell geographical telephone line and has advertised this in a notice on their website. The new number is 01473 716806. The practice notes however that callers need to be aware that this number will not have call queuing and callers will get an engaged tone if this line is busy.

Carers Assessments

The LINk received comments from carers in Suffolk which indicated that they were experiencing substancial delays in obtaining a carers assessment. In response, our Board carers representative created a survey which was designed to identify the length of delays that people were experiencing and their overall experience of the system.

The results suggested that a high proportion of participants experienced delays of one month or more. The main issues identified were as follows:

A lack of public awareness and promotion.
A general lack of communication and information in relation to what carers are entitled to and how the assessment process works.

The LINk Board made the following recommendations to Suffolk County Council and Customer First:

There should be a proactive approach to advising carers about carers assessments.
Suffolk County Council should ensure that there is adequate promotion on their website and also in hard copy form.
Information should be spread to local carers groups in Suffolk with a particular focus on BME groups.
Customer First should ensure that adequate information is provided to carers from the first telephone call and ensure a call back within a reasonable time frame.

Following the publication of the report we met with representatives from Customer First and Suffolk County Council. The following is a brief outline of the issues discussed.

Effective Communication and delays in obtaining assessments: The council has very recently introduced a call back service which is intended to reassure carers that their application has not been forgotten. We felt that this is a very helpful step to have introduced. It was recognised that, given the amount of applications that require this call back service, it may take some time to establish a period during which a person might expect a call back and as such the Council were reluctant to provide details around the sort of timescales that might be involved.

In terms of the recorded delays in obtaining assessments; we were informed that SCC prioritise their cases on the basis of need. Those carers that are categorised as “low priority” may experience lengthy waits but the council refuted the claims of year long waits as recorded in our results.

Ensuring a pro-active approach to informing carers about assessments: The LINk were informed that this role is largely handled through the use of the Suffolk County Council’s partner organisation Suffolk Family Carers. Suffolk LINk commented that using just one partner may not be appropriate. There are some people that may not identify themselves through Suffolk Family Carers. This was acknowledged and the LINk was informed about some future projects that may help to address the issue.

The ongoing lean review of Customer First: We were informed about an ongoing lean review of Customer First which is set to alter the way in which it operates. One of the main aims of the review is to remove bureaucracy involved in contacting Customer First which will undeniably help to remove some frustrations that carers have found when making contact. The LINk was informed that our survey results have definitely been used to inform the review and we have requested an update once any information is available.

The following actions were agreed in the meeting:

The survey results have and will continue to feed into the ongoing review of Customer First as described above.
SCC will forward the results of the lean review and changes implemented to the Suffolk LINk for information purposes.
Details of a best practice forum will be forwarded to the LINk office so that other bodies who contact us that have experience of carers issues are provided with a method through which they can communicate the concerns of their members and/or clients or obtain more information.
To improve communication, Suffolk County Council will discuss with Suffolk Family Carer’s the potential for Customer First to send out the Suffolk Family Carers newsletter as part of their information pack.
Suffolk LINk will be provided with carers information packs for our information.

Suffolk LINk would like to acknowledge the good work that is ongoing within Suffolk County Council and Customer First, without whom much needed support could not be offered to carers. We are glad that the Council were receptive to our report informing their service review and are pleased to see steps being taken to address the identified areas for improvement.

Carers Assessments Work Update

Carers information packs were received in the LINk office and Suffolk Family Carers have agreed to share details of the Best Practice Forum with us. We should receive the relevant information soon. Suffolk Family Carers will also send copies of their newsletter to Customer First to send out with their information packs to family carers.

In terms of the lean review of Customer First, the process is still ongoing but Suffolk County Council have reassured us that Carers Assessments are very much part of the planning and thinking of the review. We will be informed of any relevant outcomes as soon as they are available.

In the period April 2011 until September 2011, approximately 1000 carers assessments were completed. This marks a considerable increase in the number completed for the whole period April 2010 until march 2011. Our Board considered this a very positive outcome.

Community Physiotherapy

Suffolk LINk received many comments about the long wait for physiotherapy community services and at a Suffolk County Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting it was confirmed that the 18 week target for an appointment was not being met in several areas of Suffolk. This was felt to be unacceptable by all concerned and a further report was requested. This report must show that the 18 week target is being met and it will be presented to LINk and Overview and Scrutiny Committee members in July 2009.

Access to NHS Dentistry

We received many comments about how you were unable to see an NHS Dentist in many parts of Suffolk. The good news is that NHS Suffolk has revealed plans for five new NHS Dental Practices that will be opened in Suffolk in the future.

Patient Safety Alerts 2010

The Suffolk LINk contacted a number of trusts, which had outstanding "patient safety alerts". These are issued in response to issues of safety identified by the national safety agency. Trusts are meant to address the issues/solve the problems and report back that the action has been completed.

In Suffolk there were 44 outstanding alerts. After the Suffolk LINk contacted the relevant trusts 34 were cleared and 3 trusts announced changes in handing procedures.

For more information contact us on 01449 771246.

Suffolk Providers: Quality Accounts 2010

Two members of the Suffolk LINk Board successfully reviewed the quality accounts of several trusts covering Suffolk and neighbouring areas. Quality accounts are not financial reports but are instead a statement regarding the acheivements of the trust within the year (like an annual report). A number of trusts, however, failed to provide the 30 day review period and the LINk has highlighted these issues accordingly. We think this is very important as the trusts must account for public opinion in their work.

The quality accounts are available from the relevant trusts should you like to see the response from the LINk.