Manchester Alliance for Community Care

Statement from Mind in Manchester
As you may have heard, Mind in Manchester is in imminent danger of closing all its services. Below is a statement from Justin Larner, the manager of the organisation:

"In recent years we've developed recovery-focused mentoring and social inclusion mental health services that have been so successful that they are currently over subscribed and we have waiting lists over a year long. More than 75% of all the people that we work are sent to us by statutory health and social care bodies. Many of our clients have some of the most complex and longstanding difficulties in a population that is recognised as having high levels of deprivation and poor mental health (including suicide).

Without significant support from the statutory authorities Mind in Manchester's mentoring and social inclusion services will close before the end of May 2007. We need your help to stop this from happening. Please visit our website www.mind-in-manchester.org.uk/funding/index.php for more information and how you can help."

Working Together Differently in Districts - Mcr VCS Conference
Thursday 8th February, 9.30am - 4pm (GMCVO, Ardwick Green North)

Following the three partnership conferences in 2005/6, this annual event will bring together voluntary, community and statutory organisations to reflect on our progress towards district based, joined up services for children, young people and families in Manchester.

The aims of the event are to:

raise awareness of developments in the Change for Children programme
identify what this could mean for voluntary and community sector organisations and how the sector can contribute
clarify expectations and the nature of relationships with other agencies delivering services for children, young people and families in Manchester

The event will focus on:

district commissioning - how a model of multi-agency district-based working might work for the voluntary and community sector
A review of the Children and Young People's Plan
Influencing at a strategic level - why should you be involved?

The event will include key note speakers and a special guest performance from a local youth group.
Download a flyer and booking form for this event. For more information about the the event please contact Ruth at MACC on 0161 834 9823 or email ruth@macc.org.uk

You can download a copy of a conference report from all three of the previous events in 2005/6 here

raise awareness of developments in the Change for Children programme
identify what this could mean for voluntary and community sector organisations and how the sector can contribute
clarify expectations and the nature of relationships with other agencies delivering services for children, young people and families in Manchester

The event will focus on:

district commissioning - how a model of multi-agency district-based working might work for the voluntary and community sector
A review of the Children and Young People's Plan
Influencing at a strategic level - why should you be involved?

You can download a copy of a conference report from all three of the previous events in 2005/6 here

NHS survey on GP Services

The NHS is currently conducting its biggest-ever survey: five million patients countrywide are to be asked for their experiences and views of booking an appointment with a GP.

The survey questionnaire, which will go out in mid-January 2007, includes questions on flexible booking, telephone access, opening hours and satisfaction levels. An average GP practice with a list of 6,000 patients will have the chance to earn over £8,000 in incentives if they are responsive to patients' views on access.

Posters and leaflets informing NHS patients and staff about the new survey will be placed in GP surgeries from next week. Taking part in the survey is completely voluntary for patients. Patients will be selected from among those who have had an appointment between 16 July and 15 October 2006.

Patients will be able to fill out the survey in their own home and post it back for analysis. Helplines will be available for people who need help completing the survey, including people with visual impairments or who don’t have English as a first language. The survey is also available in 10 other community languages, Urdu, Punjabi, Polish, Bengali, Arabic, French, Gujarati, Turkish, Somali and Portuguese.

Successful Parenting Fund Projects for 2006 in Manchester

The following organisations have been successful in receiving Parenting Fund money to provide projects in Manchester. You can download details of the projects they will be delivering <here>

Contact a Family
National Childbirth Trust and Sowing Seeds
Barnardos Health through Action
Henshaws Society for Blind People
Salford Foundation
Depaul Trust

Patient and public involvement...changing again!
Details of the latest structure for community engagement in the NHS are now published. This sees Patient and Public Involvement Forums replaced by Local Involvement Networks (LINks). These are intended to work with the local voluntary and community sector to support the voice of local communities in the planning and delivery of health services. MACC will be producing a response to the guidance which we'll publish on this site. In the meantime, the details are available on the Department of Health website >HERE<.

Children & Young People's Plan - Executive Summary Now Available! (June 06)

Manchester published its Children and Young People's Plan at the end of March this year. The Plan is the single, strategic, overarching plan for all local services for children and young people, for example health services, police, local authority and voluntary sector organisations. It sets out a vision for children and young people and identifies how outcomes for children and young people can be best improved.

The Plan will need to be flexible to take account of the fast pace of change in the sector - including this year, for example, the outcome of the Joint Area Review. Nevertheless, it is important staff in all children and young people's services have a good awareness of the content of the Plan and so a summary version has been produced. It is now available on the City Council's web pages: www.manchester.gov.uk/education/plans/cypp/index.htm

Staff without easy access to the internet can request copies by mailto:jcu@manchester.gov.uk

Continuing Care Consultation
The Government has launched a new consultation about the criteria for continuing NHS care - that is, where you have a high level of long-term health needs and require full time nursing care though it does not necessarily mean you have to be in a care home.

Currently, each regional authority is allowed to set its own criteria, but following a recent court case, the Government is proposing to establish a single national framework. The consultation is to seek ideas about how that would work. To take part, visit the Department of Health website >HERE<

Funding news - food projects
The Food Futures team is now running a small grants scheme for 2006/2007. Any organisation is welcome to apply but the aim is to support community led bids - feedback from the Food Futures Conference highlighted the need for a community approach to tackling some of the issues facing the City. Note that it's unlikely that grants over £5,000 will be considered. The scheme is running in 3 rounds - deadlines for applications are:

30th June (now closed)
29th September
29th December

If you would like further information, please contact Christine Raiswell at the Joint Health Unit, Room 4042, Town Hall Extension, Manchester M60 2LA or phone her on 0161 234 4268. More information about the Food Futures Strategy can be found at: www.foodfutures.info

30th June (now closed)
29th September
29th December

TAGAD Bus Pass Campaign Questionnaire
The Temporary Action Group Against Discrimination (TAGAD) is campaigning for changes to the way the GMPTE process applications for free travel passes on mental health grounds. We believe that the procedures now adopted are needlessly bureaucratic and in particular, discriminatory towards people with a dual diagnosis. We are collecting evidence of the impact of these procedures on individual service users. We intend to feed this evidence into a national review of eligibility criteria for free travel passes and have therefore put together the attached questionnaire.

We are requesting that you print off copies of the questionnaire for people using your services and where necessary, assist people to fill them in. You will note a freepost number for returning questionnaires to John Butler at MACC.

Please note:

For people that have had no problems getting or renewing travel passes they only need to complete the first 7 questions or the first 8 if over 60. Those that have had problems will need to complete all of the questions.
These forms cannot be completed electronically- they must be hand written.

If you want more information about TAGAD and about this campaign please contact John Butler at MACC.

Mental Capacity Act 2005 research - consultation
he Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a statutory framework for people who may not be able to make their own decisions, for example because of a learning difficulties, an illness such as dementia or brain injury or mental health problems. It sets out who can take decisions, in which situations, and how they should go about this.

The Act enshrines in statute current best practice and common law principles concerning people who lack mental capacity and those who take decisions on their behalf. In Section 30 to 34, the Act also provides a statutory framework for research involving people who lack capacity to consent to their participation. These provisions balance the importance of properly conducted research into the treatment or care of people who lack capacity with the need to protect their interests and respect their current and previously expressed wishes and feelings.

The Department of Health is consulting on draft research regulations under the Act, which provide detailed policy on a number of issues where broad outlines were given in the primary legislation. We are seeking views on:

whether the proposed arrangements for appointing the appropriate body that approves research are suitable?
whether the proposed arrangements for research involving people who consented but then lost capacity strike the right balance between the need to allow long-term research to continue whilst respecting the past and present wishes of participants?

More information from the Department of Health website >HERE<

New Every Child Matters Guidance Documents Published (Aug 05)
The Children Act 2004 provides the legal underpinning for Every Child Matters: Change for Children – the programme aimed at transforming children’s services. A series of documents have been published which provide guidance under the act, to support local authorities and their partners in implementing new statutory duties:

Interagency Cooperation to Improve the Well-being of Children: Children's Trusts
Guidance on the Children & Young People's Plan
Guidance on the Roles and Responsibilities of the Director of Children's Services and the Lead Member for Children's Services
Local Safeguarding Children's Boards
Working Together to Safeguard Children

You can download these documents > here <. At the same time an overview of these and other guidance supporting the ECM programme has been published.

Guidance on working with voluntary & community groups (June 2005)
The Department for Education and Skills has developed a strategy for working with the voluntary and community sector to deliver change for children and young people. The strategy looks at what the DfES will do to strengthen its national relationship with voluntary organisations that work with children, young people and families. It explains what the Government is doing, through the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme, to support effective working with voluntary and community organisations at local level. You can access this report > here <

The Children's Workforce Strategy: a strategy to build a world-class workforce for children & young
This sets out the Government's vision forthe children's workforce, identifies and key challenges in meeting this vision and invluces proposals to develop a national single qualifications freameowrk to imprvoe careers pathways and progression opportunities for the workforce. You can download it > here <

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
This provides a common approach to needs assessment that can be used by the whole children's workforce. You can download it > here <

Report on the Commissioning of Children's Services (May 2005)
A report has been produced which aims to address the complex topic of commissioning services for children, young people and families, with particular reference to the role of the voluntary and community sector. It looks at core principles and challenges, as well as evidence of good practice and can be downloaded > here <

Hidden Harm - Responding to the needs of children of problem drug users (May 2005)
This report assesses the number of affected children in the UK, examines the evidence for significant harm to their health and well-being and considers what is being done at present. You can access this report on the national drugs strategy website > here <

Good Practice Guide for work with family members affected by someone else's drug use (May 05)
This is recent guidance on good practice and quality standards for services for families affected by drug use. You can access this report > here <

New website for children whose parents are misusing drugs (July 05)
The STARS national initiative has launched a web site for young people whose parents misuse drugs. The site also contains information for drug/alcohol practitioners, teachers and social workers on the issues facing children and young people, along with links to further research and evaluation of projects for children of drug misusing parents. You can access the website > here <

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