Emily Ward

We are trying to reach everyone living with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) to promote getting their annual physical health check.  So far only 26% of patients have received all 6 elements of their health check (as at January 2022).   We appreciate delivery of these health checks may have plateaued because of Covid and the impact this has had on our workforce, but we have to ask for one more push in getting every patient with an SMI to have their health check as urgently as possible.  

As you no doubt already know, people with SMI are at a greater risk of poor physical health and, on average, die 15 to 20 years earlier than the general population.   It’s estimated that 2 in 3 of those deaths are from physical illnesses that can be prevented, for example cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes etc.

Severe mental ill health, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, can have a devastating impact on individuals and their families. If people with severe mental ill health receive their annual health check, it can go a long way in preventing those illnesses from becoming more serious resulting in better health and wellbeing with fewer hospital admissions and A&E attendances.

We are asking if you could please spare a minute to consider your patients and the people you know that that live with serious mental illness and query whether they are registered with their GP as living with a SMI or if they have had their annual health check.  Some patients may not even be aware that they are entitled to this vital annual health check, in which case a leaflet is attached for you which can be shared with them to explain how important it is for them to have an annual health check.

If you would like anything more than this leaflet or would like this leaflet amending in some way to suit and support your conversations, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Katie Faherty, k.faherty@nhs.net, and we will do our best to support you.

This full day event will provide valuable insights into how personalisation supports us all in meeting future challenges whilst also acknowledging the excellent work that is happening right now in Lincolnshire.

• There will be a range of interactive workshops on the day.
• Listen to Andy Walker MBE, a motivational speaker, talk about his personal story and how personalised care has changed his life;
• Hear from Tommy Whitelaw, National Lead for Carers and Outreach from Alliance Scotland, on his personal experience of caring for his mother, the challenges he faced and how the What Matters To Me campaign began;
• Find out more from Alex Fox OBE, CEO of Mayday Trust and author of Escaping the Invisible Asylum, on the importance of asset based thinking and working with people and communities to learn from their experience.

This conference serves to kick-start our conversation on the long-term shift that is Personalisation. It’s your space to share your experiences; to tell us what you need for personalisation to be successfully embedded in the system and to learn from the success and challenges of others.

To register your interest in attending this full day event, please email leccg.stp@nhs.net with your name, organisation and job title. To ensure Covid safety, places are limited. For more information visit Upcoming Events :: Lincolnshire STP (itsallaboutpeople.info)

LSAB and LSCP voluntary sector briefing session – 16 March 2022

The Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board and Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership are holding a free virtual briefing session on 16 March 2022, for voluntary and third sector safeguarding leads. Content will include a presentation from Wellbeing Lincs, and also advice from Early Help Consultants about Team Around the Child. If you work with the voluntary sector, please promote this session to them and ask them to find out more by emailing: LSCP@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

The NHS in Lincolnshire are looking for NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’s.  As you may know, it is envisaged that (subject to the passage of legislation through Parliament) new statutory Integrated Care Systems will be established across England on 1 April 2022.  In Lincolnshire, this will include the establishment of a new NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The recruitment process for five Non-Executive Directors for the ICB has begun and the details of which can be found at https://ics-ned-recruitment.com/job/lincolnshire-designate-independent-non-executive-member-of-the-proposed-nhs-integrated-care-board.14289.

It was brought to our attention that there is an opportunity for voluntary sector to apply for further funding to support suicide prevention. This is separate to Community Suicide Prevention Innovation Fund and the organisations can apply via online portal on Department of Health website: Suicide Prevention Fund 2021 to 2022: application guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For those who decide to apply, Lincolnshire Suicide Audit may be a good source of local and national evidence to support the bids:

2020 Lincolnshire Suicide Audit FINAL.pdf (research-lincs.org.uk)

NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) began a formal consultation exercise on the future of four NHS services on the 30^th September. This 12-week public consultation runs until the 23^rd December 2021 and will enable people from across the county to have their say on how these services might be delivered in the future.

The services being consulted on are:

• Orthopaedic surgery across Lincolnshire
• Urgent and emergency care at Grantham and District Hospital
• Acute medical beds at Grantham and District Hospital
• Stroke services across Lincolnshire

To date, we have received feedback from events held in Boston, Sleaford, Grantham, Lincoln, Skegness, Gainsborough and Spalding alongside attendance at market days and voluntary group meetings across the county.  There is still plenty of time to get involved at our forthcoming face to face and virtual events listed below. People joining the events will have the opportunity to ask questions and give their feedback as they hear from clinicians who will explain the proposals. 24/7 virtual events which include content from the live events are also accessible through the website at www.lincolnshire.nhs.uk. 

This is our largest public consultation to date.  We are listening and in response to feedback received, we will be hosting an additional event in Louth at the Mason’s Arms on the 14th Dec.

Everyone is encouraged to get involved and have their say on what future NHS services in Lincolnshire may look like. Please help us to further raise awareness of this consultation and increase participation by signposting and sharing the link to the questionnaire and attachments which provide detailed information on the proposals.

If you have any meetings or events you would like us to attend or provide further information for please let us know by using the contact details below.

You can complete the questionnaire here: https://www.lincolnshire.nhs.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/changes-to-nhs-services/complete-consultation-questionnaire

If you, or someone you represent, has a question or would like to request the attached documents in a different language, please contact lccg.asr-enquiries@nhs.net or 01522 421860 Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm.

Events Schedule

Face to Face Events

Grantham, Sunday 12 December

2:00-4:00pm

Lincoln, Tuesday 14 December

10:00-12:00pm

Louth, Tuesday 14 December

6:30pm-0:30pm

Boston, Saturday 18 December

2:00-4:00pm

Virtual events

Thursday 16 December

6:30-8:30pm

Monday 20 December

10:00-12:00pm

Wednesday 22 December

2:00-4:00pm

An upcoming event on Tuesday 14th December 2021 for a Voluntary Sector Jobs Fair! Click here to see further details below.