Health and Social Services eConsultation

Patient and Client Advocacy in the new Health and Personal Social Services System - who's speaking for you?

The Health and Social Services Councils would like your help to ensure that in the structural changes made by the Review of Public Administration, there will be a strong voice to advocate for the public, communities, patients and clients. They will use the results of this econsultation to impact on the development of the Patient Client Council (PCC), the body that will eventually replace the HSS Councils.

Background

There are four Health and Social Services Councils (HSSCs) in Northern Ireland - Northern (based in Ballymena), Southern (Lurgan), Eastern (Central Belfast) and Western (Omagh).

The HSSCs represent the voice of patients in the Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) in Northern Ireland. The HSSCs were set up in 1991 to represent the views and opinions of the public. The HSSCs are independent from those who commission, manage and provide health and social care.

Their main functions are to:

• Act on your behalf to improve the range, type and quantity of services
• Continually monitor the quality of local services
• Represent public opinion about changes to existing services and the introduction of new services
• Find out what people think about services
• Provide you with sources of information on health and social care issues
• Offer advice and help if you wish to complain about a service

In November last year, the Minister of Health announced the creation of the Patient Client Council (PCC) for Northern Ireland to replace the four HSSCs by April 2008. Over the next few months, the HSSCs want to hear the views of patients, service users and communities.

What would you like the Patient Client Council to do for you?

Please look at the following information on the New PCC and answer the 4 questions, this is your opportunity to have your say!

The purpose of the Patient Client Council (PCC) will be to:

• provide effective advocacy for individuals and communities
• challenge policy makers, commissioners, providers and regulators
• ensure that expectations and needs of the public are addressed in order that they get the very best from health and social care services

Success for the PCC will result in:

• a better informed public, patient and client leading to a more appropriate use of services.
• a more responsive and flexible HPSS
• range of meaningful user participation models in place across the HPSS
• better public/user satisfaction
• more confidence in the complaints process
• the public taking an active role in their own health and well being
• increased public ownership of health and social care decisions

What the Health Councils would like from you

To help the Councils make sure that the PCC meets the needs of local communities, they need to make sure that they get the basics right.

Please help them to do this by taking a few moments to give your views on the following 4 questions.

1. What sorts of things would you expect the PCC to do? Do you agree with the overall purpose statement?
2. What would you like to see the PCC do regionally across NI?
3. What should the local function of the PCC be in your local community?
4. What difference should the PCC make? Do you agree with the evidence of success indicators?

Please forward your answers to kathymartin@cdhn.org, or alternatively you can post or fax replies to Kathy Martin, CDHN, 30a Mill Street, Newry, BT34 1EY by Friday 12 May 2006.

The results of this econsultation will be fed into the DHSSPS PCC Project Team by mid May and there will be a workshop exploring the issue at CDHN's Networking event in Derry on Thursday 1June 2006.

Feedback will be available from CDHN, the HSSC's websites and through 'Health Bytes'.