Please tell us your experience or those of a family member or someone you know that has used a health and social care service during the Coronavirus pandemic. Take the survey, or email us at enquiries@healthwatchnorthamptonshire.co.uk to give other feedback.
Last year Northamptonshire County Council commissioned us to find out what changes are needed in the way they provide adult social care.
The responses to the survey were mixed, with some people having good experiences and others highlighting areas where improvement is needed.
County council cabinet member for adult social care Councillor Ian Morris said: “We know that improvements are needed and this research is a vital part of the work taking place to transform adult social services in Northamptonshire. By hearing about people’s real experiences of navigating adult social care services in the county we have been able to get an accurate picture of where things aren’t working as well as they should be, and where people want to see change. This research will help inform our transformation work as we work hard to make real improvements for everyone who accesses these services, both now and in the future.”
Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire has been having regular zoom meetings. These have been to keep our young volunteers connected during this time as well as to update them on progress locally. We have joined forces with other local Young Healthwatch groups from around the country to hold a quiz, each quiz has been designed by a young person. The aim again to bring our young volunteers together to try and combat isolation while building links.
Kettering General Hospital has updated the group on how things are currently working for staff and patients and the fast pace of changes at the moment, they were also updated on patient experience changes that will come into place that as a group they fed in to.
Young Healthwatch has asked a couple of quick poll questions on Twitter and posted links for support when the poll has finished. These have been around sleep and wellbeing, there are plans for more to be asked in the coming weeks.
Relate Northamptonshire offers a free helpline to anyone who is facing issues around their mental wellbeing triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
This time of heightened emotional intensity can cause psychological, emotional or social issues in us, such as: depression, anxiety, stress, fear, isolation, feeling overwhelmed, loss and grief and money worries.
Available for adults over 18, these free 30-minute telephone appointments are with a qualified Relate counsellor who will provide active listening and insight from their expert counsellors to fully understand where you are; psycho-education - explaining some of the relevant psychology of your experience and how that knowledge might help you overcome your individual challenges and signposting should you require further support.
Ring 01604 634400 today to speak to their support team and find an appointment time that suits you.
Changes to eye casualty service at Northampton General Hospital
To help to keep patients and staff safe, NGH is changing the way they operate their eye casualty service.
The service will no longer operate as a walk-in service. Instead, patients will need to contact them by phone before coming to the hospital. This means the team can provide support and medical advice over the phone, without patients needing to come to the hospital.
If you do need to come to the hospital for medical help the team will arrange this with you. Please contact the service on 01604 545085 or 01604 634700 ext 8011.
Hospital support services to patients and loved ones
Northampton General Hosptial Patient experience, Volunteers, PALS and Complaints have teamed up to provide a wealth of support services to patients and loved ones during the Pandemic. See below for the services set up to help you during this difficult time.
If you’re currently experiencing – or have experienced - domestic abuse and coercive control you may feel even more isolated and frightened than usual while you and your family are social distancing or having to self-isolate.
Northamptonshire County Coucil have put together information to help you to feel safer and less alone at what is a difficult time for everybody, but perhaps especially those who are having to keep themselves and their family safe with the added challenge of living with someone who is or has been harming you.
People in need of the most urgent dental care in Northamptonshire can now access one of eight new Urgent Dental Centres (UDCs) which are open across the county.
Patients seeking help with dental problems should not visit their local NHS dental practice in person but instead should phone the practice between the hours of 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, for advice on alternative arrangements in place.
For out of hours support, patients can contact NHS 111 during weekday evenings after 5pm, weekends and bank holidays. Patients in need of urgent treatment will be referred to an urgent treatment centre and given instructions on how to access this. Patients who are not registered with a dentist can search for their nearest dentist here.
Following telephone or video consultation, urgent cases will be referred to one of the new UDC systems which have been established to meet the needs of people who are possible or confirmed COVID-19 patients, those who are shielded, those who are vulnerable or those who do not fit into any of these categories. The UDCs will operate by appointment only following telephone or video triage – there are no walk-in or drop-in appointments.
Home birth services up and running again for both KGH and NGH
Community midwife services for families who want a home birth were reinstated this month (May).
The services at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) and Northampton General Hospital (NGH) were temporarily suspended during the early part of the COVID-19 outbreak because more staff were needed within the hospitals to ensure safe maternity care.
Now the new arrangements to protect against COVID-19 in maternity have been successfully embedded the home birth services have restarted gradually. It is anticipated the full service will resume for all women in the summer.
From 1 June the midwifery teams at Northampton General Hospital will be opening three community maternity hubs for women to see a community midwife about their pregnancy.
The three hubs mean that most pregnant women in the county can access support in the community without needing to visit the main hospital site. The hubs will run as appointment sessions to maintain social distancing and to provide individual support for women.
Clinicians in Northamptonshire are urging parents not to let coronavirus fears stand in the way of bringing their children for regular vaccination appointments and GP health checks.
Routine vaccinations for potentially deadly diseases like measles and mumps can not only save a child’s life, but can also prevent outbreaks of serious illness and reduce further pressures on the NHS.
Northamptonshire general practitioner Dr Emma Donnelly says parents should be reassured that their local GP practice is taking all the necessary steps to keep them safe from coronavirus – and they should always attend appointments when invited to do so, as long as they are free from coronavirus symptoms themselves.
It's a hard time to find information all in place, especially for local services. #NorthantsTogether is a campaign to keep everyone informed about what different local organisations are doing during the Coronavirus pandemic. This newsletter aims to keep you informed about how we are working together to support local people across Northamptonshire.
Public Health Northamptonshire is encouraging smokers to #QuitforCovid, not only to protect themselves but to reduce demand on NHS services. The coronavirus pandemic is putting an unprecedented strain on the NHS, and England’s Chief Medical Officer is urging smokers to give up smoking to lower their risk, so there has never been a better time to quit.
Along with all libraries nationally, Northamptonshire County Councils Libraries are currently closed to the public, but library staff are busy ensuring that customers can still access a host of resources from home.
The Councils Library Plus service is available online 24 hours a day and anyone who isn’t already a library member can register easily online for free.
Northamptonshire County Council has re-opened the car parks at each of its country parks.
Drivers will now be able to park at the Council’s five country parks in the county, which so far have only been accessible on foot.
Those who do visit country parks are asked to observe correct social distancing measures and show respect for other park users and staff. Dog walkers must also keep their dogs on a lead where other people are present, in order to ensure two metre distances are maintained.
Northamptonshire County Council re-opened its Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) for the residents of Northamptonshire to dispose of essential household waste.
The council is asking that only essential journeys to HWRCs be made, and only if waste or recycling cannot be stored safely at home without causing injury, harm or risk to health.
In line with Public Health England guidance - residents who are vulnerable, or who are showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus, should not visit household recycling centres.
For local support and services give one of NHFT's friendly mental health navigators a call, any time of the day or night: 0300 330 10 11 - Lines available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Alternatively, IAPT is for anyone aged 17 and half and over with mild to moderate depression and/or an anxiety disorder. It can be accessed via an online referral form (where you can also request an interpreter if needed). There is also an option to complete programmes via an online portal called SilverCloud (both these options allow individuals to interact without using the telephone, and then appointments can be made via text or email).
Four Northamptonshire local Minds have decided to merge together to form one larger organisation.
These are:
Corby
Northampton and District (includes Brackley, Daventry & Towcester)
Rushden
Wellingborough
Northampton and District will continue to work closely with Kettering Mind and hope to strengthen the formal collaborations in projects, bids and tenders as they move forward.
The new organisation will start to come together in the spring and the full transition will take place over 12 months.
The Panel is responsible for scrutinising the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, who is in charge of setting the priorities and resources for policing and the fire and rescue service in the county, including setting the annual budgets and Council Tax precepts.
The Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel acts as a check and balance on the Commissioner and holds him to account for the way in which he delivers these responsibilities.
For further details, including an application pack, please contact James Edmunds, Democratic Services, Northamptonshire County Council, One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton NN1 1ED, call 07500 605276 or email jedmunds@northamptonshire.gov.uk.
The closing date for submission of applications is Friday, 5 June 2020.
Last year’s annual report focused on the health inequalities that exist across Northamptonshire, illustrating how life expectancy and quality of life varies across the county according to where we are born and how we live. This year’s report builds on this, identifying the underlying causes of poor health and providing ideas for action that could be adopted locally to address them.
The report was written before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Director of Public Health wrote this accompanying letter:
"Despite the operational demands currently placed on us all by COVID-19, I remain committed to producing the Annual Report for 2019/20, which focuses on making sure we consider ‘health in all decisions’. Indeed, it is at times like this we are reminded of the impact of our decision-making on people’s health and the importance of working collaboratively in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people of Northamptonshire.
The health of our population is integral to how resilient we are and how effectively we, as a county, can respond to such emergencies. I have been overwhelmed by the dedication and spirit demonstrated by all our key workers and frontline staff, across health, social care and the wider economy. Everyone has worked tirelessly to provide services and support to local residents under extremely difficult circumstances. Equally, the commitment and selflessness of the volunteers who have come forwards locally to reinforce these services is something we should all be proud of. However, we cannot trivialise the impact of this pandemic - local people have still experienced significant disadvantage, illness and death and there will be lessons to learn about how we can ensure we are better prepared to manage such challenges in future. Importantly, we remain in the unique position of being able to take this learning into the new unitary local authorities, to ensure public health and community resilience will be at the forefront of future decision-making.
As the 2019/20 Director of Public Health Annual Report was completed prior the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the incident has not been specifically mentioned, however it is recognised as the biggest health challenge of our generation and is sure to have a huge impact on how we all live our lives going forwards. This report reminds us how important the decisions we make over the coming weeks and months will be in enabling individual, community and economic recovery in Northamptonshire.
So although at the time of writing I know there will be much to learn about collaborative working and decision-making from this pandemic, I remain confident the recommendations in this year’s report will enable the building of strong foundations for future joint working as we emerge from COVID-19. We must grasp the opportunity to collectively shape our services going forwards, so public health is a golden thread woven through all our decisions and provision."
Northamptonshire County Council has welcomed the appointment of the chair for Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, Ian Curryer.
Plans to develop a Children’s Trust for Northamptonshire were announced by the government in May 2019 to drive improvement and sustainable change in children’s services in the county, moving to serve the two new unitary authorities when they come into being next year.
Ian brings with him a wealth of experience in local authorities and working with children – initially training as a teacher and moving into a head teacher role, to being a Director of Children’s Services in Nottingham City Council and more recently carrying out the important role of Chief Executive, also for Nottingham City Council. All of this experience provides Ian with the significant knowledge and skills needed to take on this important new position.
The Secretary of State for Education has appointed four Non-Executive Directors to form part of the new Northamptonshire Children’s Trust board. The successful candidates will be working alongside the Trust’s chair, Ian Curryer. The following people have been appointed: Clare Chamberlain, Hilary Daniels, Colin Cross, John O’Brien.
Northamptonshire County Council, Children First Northamptonshire has just launched consultations on the following services: • Residential Short Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children - closes 3 July 2020
• Services to support young people that are not or are at risk of not being in education, training or employment (NEET) - closes 3 July 2020
• Targeted Safeguarding Intervention Services - closes 17 July 2020
Please visit the consultation hub for all of the different ways you can give your feedback
A high school student from the Netherlands is seeking information about a fallen WWII soldier and his family from Northampton. Please read the message from Matthijs:
"My name is Matthijs Zwaal, I am a high school student from Haaksbergen in the Netherlands. I am working on a project about fallen soldier in Haaksbergen during WW2. We are trying to write a book about the soldiers, to give them more than a name, we want to tell the story of who they were. Sydney Jepson, born in Northampton is one of them. He was the son of Harry S Jepson (born 18 August 1874) and Kate M Jepson (born 7 Dec 1883). He had two sisters: Mary born 4 May 1920 and Edith born 15 February 1924. The family were living at 30 Boughton Green Road, Northampton. If you have any information about him, or if you know his relatives, please contact me: zwaalmatthijs@gmail.com"
The new NHS test and trace service will help to control the rate of reproduction (R), reduce the spread of the infection and save lives. By playing your part through the actions set out below, you will directly help to contain the virus by reducing its spread. This means that, thanks to your efforts, we will be able to go as far as it is safe to go in easing lockdown measures.
The NHS test and trace service:
ensures that anyone who develops symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) can quickly be tested to find out if they have the virus, and also includes targeted asymptomatic testing of NHS and social care staff and care home residents
helps trace close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for coronavirus and, if necessary, notifies them that they must self-isolate at home to help stop the spread of the virus
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak means you should stay at home as much as possible, but it's still easy to get NHS help using your smartphone, tablet or computer. Find out how the NHS are helping people find information on how to:
If you know of a health or social care service that has been doing extra-special work during the coronavirus outbreak, the CQC would love to hear from you.
They want to highlight and celebrate services giving great, innovative care. These examples will also be shared with other services, who can see if there are any ideas or innovations that they could use. If you have an example to share, email at C19innovation@cqc.org.uk
The Government announced £6 million in funding for Armed Forces charities and Community Interest Companies (CICs) who are delivering services to veterans, Armed Forces families and others from the Armed Forces community.
Grants of up to £60,000 are available. In exceptional circumstances, grants of up to £125,000 or more are available. If you are awarded a grant, you will need to spend it all by 31 October 2020. Closing date, 29 May 2020 but applicants can apply at any time through the online grants portal.
Healthwatch Northamptonshire is managed by Connected Together CIC Registered in England and Wales. Company No: 8496240
We are happy for you to share the news and information contained in the e-newsletter. However, we cannot take responsibility for the accuracy or content of external links and websites.
Northamptonshire County Council has welcomed the appointment of the chair for Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, Ian Curryer.
If you know of a health or social care service that has been doing extra-special work during the coronavirus outbreak, the CQC would love to hear from you.
