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Forum Central October Update

Welcome to the October update from Forum Central – the Third Sector network for Health and Care. Below you will find an update on some of our work as well as key dates for your diary.

Health and social care

Sustainability and Transformation Plan  
Ensuring the voice of the sector is heard in the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for Leeds continues to be a priority, and we are supporting members to be involved in all the key discussions around data, digital, ways in which health and care services “work with” people and how the third sector gets involved at a West Yorkshire level too.

For example, Forum Central members are working with workforce leaders in the city to support them to understand what the third sector needs are and could be in a new health and care landscape. Members have recently taken up roles on the key workforce boards as below:

• Andy Rawnsley, Aspire CBS, (Attraction, Recruitment and Retention)
• Tina Turnbull, People Matters, ?(Workforce / Workstream Board)
• Jane Li, Home Start, (Workforce Roles, Pathways and Apprenticeships)
• Ann Pemberton Home Start (Organisational Development)
• Andy McDermott, Centre for Independent Living (Workforce Planning).

Leaders Network  
To support and lead all our work we have developed a Leaders Network, made up of Chief Execs and senior leaders from across the health and care third sector.

Led by the Leaders Network, we are currently developing a strategic plan for the health and care third sector, which will support partners to understand what the third sector does, what it could do in a new health and care landscape and how the city can enable and support this.

Don’t miss the next Leaders Network meeting on Thursday 10 November, 10am – 12 noon, when the draft strategic plan will be on the agenda as well an opportunity to meet and hear from Cllr Charlwood, new Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Membership of the Leaders Network is open to all third sector health and care senior leaders, with 70 leaders already signed up. To join please email us at hello@forumcentral.org.uk or call us on 0113 242 1321.

Health and Social Care Provider Network  
Aside to the STP work we are also engaged in strategic groups across Leeds, including the Health and Social Care Provider Network which was established following publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View.

The purpose of this Network is to consider how local provider organisations respond to the proposals of the Five Year Forward View, working closely with other partners/key stakeholders.

Third Sector Representative  
A third sector representative opportunity became available, and we successfully recruited Carol Burns from Moor Allerton Elderly Care and Heather O’Donnell from Age UK Leeds, who will fulfill this on a rotational basis.

Once Carol and Heather have had a chance to have their induction and attend their first meeting, we will start feeding back on this area of work.

Tenfold – Learning Disability  

Leeds and York NHS Partnership Foundation Trust Review of Learning Disability Services
Throughout the summer we have been involved in the Leeds and York NHS Partnership Foundation Trust Review of Learning Disability Services, sitting on the Review Board.

Services under review include dietary, psychology and psychiatry, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy.

Learning disabled people and their carers have been consulted with as part of the review, and we have arranged a workshop for the third sector to have their say on Tuesday 18 October, 1.00 – 2.30 pm at The Vinery Centre, LS9 9LU.

The outcomes of the review will be available at the end of the year, but we would like as many members to be part of this workshop as possible – get in touch with Kath at kath.lindley@forumcentral.org.uk

We have also been hearing some sad tales about the implementation of the new Fairer Charging Policy, and especially how it is affecting some service users in an adverse way.

Tenfold Members Meet Up  
In light of this, and to help our members understand the process better, so that they can support people with a learning disability, we have arranged a Tenfold Members Meet Up onTuesday 15 November, 10 am – 12 noon.

A member of the Council’s Finance Assessment and Benefits Team will be on hand to explain the process in more detail and to answer any questions. We will also be joined by Janet Wright, who will give an update on the finance situation for Learning Disability Services. More details coming soon on the website and in our e-bulletin.

‘Pop Up’ Session
Finally, there will be another ‘Pop Up’ Session with the Learning Disability Care Managers Team on Tuesday 25 October, 12.30 – 2pm at Technorth.

These sessions have proved to be popular and spaces are limited, so please get in touch with Kath on 0757 695 2527 if you would like to secure a place for your organisation.

Volition – Mental health

Mental Health Framework
This is an important next phase for the Mental Health Framework in Leeds, and the priority work that has focused on better information, crisis, support to families and children and mental health services in the community. The framework is moving from development into implementation, and Volition member representatives are ensuring the third sector continues to influence and be an integral part of this.

MindWell
One of the priorities, better information about mental health, is going live today with the launch of MindWell – the new mental health information portal for Leeds.

MindWell is a new resource designed for everyone in Leeds to understand mental health, find out tools and techniques about staying well, and signposting people where to go when they need help. The site will continue to develop over the next 12 months and beyond.

We will be sending out information about this to all Forum Central members, with information about linking MindWell to members’ websites.

Click here to see it in action www.mindwell-leeds.org.uk.

Members Meet
Within the city, the Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust also have a new Chief Executive, Dr Sara Munro. We have invited Sara to come and meet with members at the nextVolition Members Event on Monday 14 November, 1.30-4pm at The Vinery Centre.

There will also be an update on the latest strategic developments in mental health, as well as an opportunity to feed into the latest mental health needs assessment. Email us at hello@forumcentral.org.uk to book a place.

World Mental Health Day – 10 October
It is also World Mental Health Day this week with numerous activities happening with our members in Leeds to mark this, click here to find out more. Within the Forum Central office, we will be holding a week-long series of lunchtime activities designed to help us take a moment and stay resilient within our own busy office working environment.

LOPF – Older People

IDOP
International Day of Older People (IDOP) 2016 has been one of the main focus areas recently with eighteen local organisations in Leeds being awarded grants of up to £200 to stage community events. Staff members from LOPF are attending some of these events and we will be producing an online report by late October/early November.

Intergenerational
We are also in the early planning stages of an update to the 2014 publication “Generations Together in Leeds” which highlighted some of the excellent inter-generational work being carried out in Leeds.

Any organisations doing inter-generational work who would like to possibly be featured in the updated version should contact Sean Tunnicliffe at sean.tunnicliffe@forumcentral.org.ukor ring (0113) 244 1697.

Leeds Transport Conversation
We have been working closely with Leeds City Council on the Leeds Transport Conversation concerning future bus and travel strategies in the city and will be involved in running two workshops with LOPF member organisations.

Homeshare Pilot Scheme
We have been working in partnership with Leeds City Council, St Anne’s Community Services and Care and Repair (Leeds) on a homeshare pilot scheme funded by the Big Lottery.

The scheme was launched in August 2016 and will carefully match an older Householder with a room to spare with a younger person, who will provide an agreed amount of support to the Householder and receive affordable accommodation.

Housing Strategy for Older People
Leeds Older People’s Forum and Leeds City Council are working in partnership to produce a Housing Strategy for Older People which will help them to live independently in their own homes and communities wherever possible or to make a planned move into an alternative home suitable to their needs.

PSI Network – Physical and Sensory Impairment

The PSI Network continues to develop as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), and is pleased to announce the addition of two more trustees to the board, starting from the October meeting.

The Network itself currently stands at 34 members, meaning a stronger voice for organisations working with physical and sensory impairments across Leeds. More members are welcome, so third sector organisations that work with and support disabled people should get in touch with Gill Crawshaw: gill.crawshaw@forumcentral.org.uk

Public Transport
One issue that’s often raised by disabled people is frustrations with public transport, so we were pleased to promote the consultations going on across Leeds and West Yorkshire.

PSI & Tenfold Workshop
On 7 September the PSI Network and Tenfold hosted a workshop for members about the West Yorkshire Bus Strategy and the bigger Transport Plan, along with Leeds City Council’s transport conversation.

There was representation from organisations across the third sector, including a mix of people with physical and sensory impairments and learning disabilities. We were also joined by colleagues from Leeds City Council’s Transport Team and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Team.

The workshop was a chance for people who use services and organisations representing people with physical and sensory impairments and learning disabilities to contribute to these important plans for the city of Leeds.

It was an interactive session and the people writing the plans went away with lots of information about what needed to change and real life examples of where things were working well, or needed to improve.

It was a good workshop and we are confident that the points raised in it will be taken on board, fed in to the wider debate and have a positive impact on the changes that need to be made.

West Yorkshire Transport and Bus Strategy consultation
The West Yorkshire Transport and Bus Strategy consultation goes on until 21 October. Information about this can be found here online at www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/ytys/

Working together

We have received funding for a LGBT+ Community Development Worker for 35 hours per week on a four months fixed term and LOPF are currently in the process of recruiting for this post.

The Community Development Worker will undertake a short intensive period of exploratory work from which further LGBT+ community development will grow. More on this shortly.

And finally…

You might have noticed a few differences in this Forum Central update. Did you spot the new logo? We’ll be using this on our upcoming website and publications.

You might also have seen the new email addresses, all ending @forumcentral.org.uk. You can still email us at our old addresses – we will get your messages. For general queries, you can now email hello@forumcentral.org.uk

You can now find Forum Central on Twitter: @MyForumCentral. We’ll be tweeting from this week, so please come and follow us!

There will be lots more going on over the next month. We’ll be progressing with our upcoming website, getting our new logo out for everyone to see, making sure everyone knows our email addresses, and working on using one mailing list.

Watch out for our next update in November.

 

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