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Crystal Palace Park Community Stakeholder Group - update
LBB published consultation report on budget proposals
Adult Social Care Survey 2012
Returning loaned equipment and supplies
Keep out the cold this Winter
Police warn residents to be wary of card scam

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Involving older people in service commissioning – more power to their elbow?
Bromley Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 – CLB briefing
Bromley Compact Champions

Crystal Palace Park Community Stakeholder Group

Before Christmas CLB was asked by LBB to deliver a recruitment drive for the Crystal Palace Park Stakeholder Group that would form community representation on proposals for the park.

The recent campaign saw a spectacular response and we are happy to announce that we have recruited 11 members to the group. The successful applicants will meet as a group for the first time in February and initially will be supported by CLB.

LBB published consultation report on budget proposals

Follow this link to the report of consultation responses received on the council’s budget proposals - http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=12731.

You can read Stephen Blann’s briefing on the LBB’s budget proposals from this link.

LBB published consultation report on budget proposals

Follow this link to the report of consultation responses received on the council’s budget proposals - http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=12731. You can read Stephen Blann’s briefing on the LBB’s budget proposals from this link.

Adult Social Care Survey 2012

Bromley Council is about to send out questionnaires for the 2012 adult social care survey. This is a national survey and it asks people who receive care services a range of questions about themselves, the services they receive and what they think of the services and their quality of life.

Surveys are sent to a random sample of 1000 people - last year 460 were returned. You may be asked for assistance but you may also wish to encourage your members who receive a survey to fill it in - or to ask for assistance. The questionnaires are going out at the beginning February and have to be returned by 24th February. The officer responsible is Barbara Pope, Performance & Information Assistant in Adult and Community Services department at the council.

Overall about a third to two thirds of people think they get good or very good services/ quality of life, another third adequate / average, and generally only 10% feel they get bad services/quality of life. This is generally in line with the figures for England. It is noticeable, however, that there was much more dependence on care for daily personal services( washing, meals) than the national average. References to the national average in this document refer to the figures for England. Read Stephen Blann’s summary of the Bromley results for 2011.

Returning loaned equipment and supplies

When someone leaves hospital and needs support there are lots of different types of equipment that can help them regain or keep their independence. This can be anything from special beds to equipment to help with personal care; from walking frames to crutches and wheelchairs. But this equipment can be very expensive and often isn’t returned to the hospital. So, today Bromley Council and Bromley Healthcare have put out a plea for patients and their families who may have been loaned a piece of equipment to take a minute to look in the garage or under the stairs or even in the loft to see if they might still have equipment such as a wheelchair they’ve forgotten to return.
If they do find something, they should contact the Integrated Community Equipment Service on 0208 313 4855 who can tell them where it should be returned or they can visit MyLife, the Council’s adult social care website, where there is a guide for patients and their families on the return of equipment.

Keep out the cold this Winter

There is no doubt that winter can be a time of great worry to many older people. Cold weather can have a negative impact on people’s health and. as the weather gets colder, our resistance to illness declines, and we are more at risk of heart attack, stroke and lung disease.

We know that some older people worry about the cost of heating their homes, but we also know that the best way to prevent ill health brought on by cold weather is to turn the heating up! The recommended daytime temperature is 21 degrees. If the temperature drops to below 18 degrees, people’s health may begin to suffer.
This winter, the London Borough of Bromley is working in partnership with some other key organisations to provide information, advice and practical support to help older people stay warm and safe.

If you would like to find out more about the help and support available, you can ring Age UK Bromley & Greenwich on 020 8315 1878.

Police warn residents to be wary of card scam

Bromley Police are reissuing their warning about a scam in which fraudsters use false pretences to try and get people’s bank cards, after 25 attempts to perpetrate this scam across the borough in early January.

The scam works by the victim initially receiving a phone call, or number of phone calls, from someone claiming to be from their bank or credit card supplier. The caller obtains personal details from the victim before advising them that they need a new card and telling them that a courier will visit them shortly to collect their old card. A person, dressed to look like a courier, then arrives at the door to take the card.

A spokesman for Bromley Police said: “It is important that residents are aware of the tactics used by con-artists. Never disclose your bank details to anyone cold calling. Banks will never call you asking for personal or account information as they already have these details, and neither will the Police. If there was a problem with your card and it needed to be replaced, the bank would write to you advising you to cut the card up. You should never give out bank details or other personal information over the phone, whatever the reason behind the request".

Involving older people in service commissioning - more power to their elbow?

Does older people's involvement in commissioning and service delivery herald a bright new future? Report from Joseph Rowntree foundation.

With the individual at the heart of the wider public service, reform agenda, this research set out to investigate what happens when older people are given the opportunity to shape service commissioning and delivery. The study also raises wider questions about the impact of their involvement, particularly whether it can change the nature of local power relations in the long term.

Dorset and Salford were identified as two areas where structures and processes exist which encourage and facilitate the involvement of older people in local decision-making.

Through focus groups, the research examined:

how older people in these areas were involved in commissioning and service delivery
what difference their involvement made
the factors which lead to successful engagement and
the barriers to involving older people

You can read the summary from this link Download as PDF 0.1 MB

Bromley Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2011 - CLB briefing

Bromley Council and NHS Bromley have recently published the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for 2011. This provides the evidence about illness, long-term conditions and local trends that will influence the decisions of the council and the PCT (either through Bromley Commissioning Consortium or through South East London Cluster) on how they spend their money on services.

You can download a copy from the Bromley MyLife portal (the new social care website for Bromley). The 2010 JSNA identified two major priorities for 2011 JSNA – Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairment and the new council Local Development Framework. Throughout there is reference to research and also consistent reference to the Marmot Review but comparison to other boroughs is not consistent - strong in chapters 2 and 3 less so in chapters 4 and 5.

A separate Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairment Needs Assessment has been prepared. You can download the June 2011 version of the PDSI Needs Assessment, and a summary from the Bromley Partnerships website and also an Action Plan agreed in late 2011.

The Local Development Framework is included in the discussion in chapter 4 -. You can read more information on the LDF on the council website and a CLB Briefing and consultation response.

The full JSNA is 155 pages long and has returned to the format of previous years
Read Stephen Blann’s full briefing on the CLB website.

Bromley Compact Champions

We are looking for new voluntary sector “Compact Champions” to promote and help implement Bromley Compact. The Compact is an agreement between public and voluntary sector on working more effectively together and in these tough times it is more important than ever. There is a wide range of resources also available on the Compact page of the CLB website – where you can also find out more about being a Compact Champion. You will also receive a regular newsletter with news and good practice information. You can download the latest version here.

If you would like to know more or want to become a Compact Champion contact Stephen Blann, Policy & Networks Officer at Community Links Bromley 020 8315 1907.