Leicestershire LINk is starting a NEW Social Care Task Group for Leicestershire County where you can have your say on recent changes and developments. You may have direct experience of these changes such as; having a personal budget, carers issues, home care services, and understanding how social care and health work together.

We would like to hear from you! If you are interested in joining this new group, sharing your experiences and making a difference; join us at the first meeting on 29th May at Glenfield Parish Rooms, Stamford Street, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8DL from 2.30pm to 4pm.

If you are planning to attend, please contact Judith Lindley on 0116 229 3048 or email judith@communitiesinpartnership.org.uk

East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG (ELR CCG) is reviewing how community services are provided locally. In East Leicestershire and Rutland there are a number of community hospitals and other venues delivering healthcare services. These include:

• Market Harborough District Hospital
• St Luke's Hospital, Market Harborough
• Rutland Memorial Hospital
• Feilding Palmer Hospital, Lutterworth
• Melton Mowbray Hospital and St Mary's Maternity Hospital
• GP Practices e.g. Syston Health Centre

What do you want from your community services? What are your thoughts on elective care services (treatment and surgery which is pre-arranged and not urgent) and the Minor Injury Units?

Complete the survey online by the 13^th May 2012.

If you would like translations, large print, hard copies or easy read versions please call Penny Harris on 0116 295 7571 or email getinvolved@leicestercity.nhs.uk

People in East Leicestershire will have a chance to see the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) progress first hand when its board meeting opens to the public in April. The first board meeting to be held in public takes place on Tuesday 10^th April from 11am to 1pm at Leicester Racecourse, Oadby, Leicester LE2 4AL.

East Leicestershire and Rutland CCG is set to take over responsibility forplanning and buying most of the health services needed by people living in thisarea from April 2013 as part of the Government's NHS reforms which were given Royal Assent last week.

The agenda and papers will be available to view on the CCG website.

Following the dementia summit earlier in February, the full Dementia Strategy for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is now available. The strategy includes five priorities to help improve the experience of those with dementia and their carers and aims to be implemented over the next few years to 2014.

A summary version is also available.

As a Pathfinder in the programme to develop LINks into HealthWatch, Leicestershire LINk has been looking at how to signpost patients and the public to the services that can best meet their health and social care needs. Signposting will be a key function of the new HealthWatch organisations, which will be in place from April 2013. We need your views about what this service should provide.

Please take a few moments to complete this survey.

The closing date for the completion of the survey is Wednesday 21st March 2012.

We will then include this feedback in the final report of work on the signposting model that we send to the Department of Health. After that, next steps will depend on the final form that the new Leicestershire HealthWatch takes, and whether they wish to develop the model further. But we hope that the work that has been done will inform not only Leicestershire's new HealthWatch, but other HealthWatch's around the country.