Funding, Energy Switch & More

Funding is just one of many subjects in the numerous news updates Essex County & Colchester Borough Councils issue every week, the following are extracts that might be of particular interest.

Funding available for community projects

Colchester’s Big Choice funding application process is now open! Bid for a share of £200,000 to fund new or existing community projects in Colchester. Finalists will be entered into a public vote at the end of February 2016 to decide on the winners.

If you have a project that could be eligible CBC needs to know more about it. Not all applications will go through to the final vote but in order to qualify CBC needs to know who you are, what you do and how your idea will benefit the residents of Colchester Borough.

Completing this online application form will guide you through the information CBC needs so please complete it carefully and take note of the deadlines as CBC has to stick to them. The online application form needs to be completed and received by CBC by 12 noon on the 15th January 2016. Click here to find out more

Save hundreds in the Essex Energy Switch

An energy-saving initiative which has already saved Essex residents almost £1 million has reopened for new applications. Register now for the Essex Energy Switch to potentially save hundreds of pounds on your energy bills.

Registration is open till 1 February 2016. After this, energy providers will bid against one another in an auction with the winning bidder being the company offering the lowest price to all applicants. Following last year’s Switch, residents saved approximately £263 per household.

Anyone who pays for energy is eligible to take part. Signing up takes just a few minutes online. Visit www.essex.gov.uk/energyswitch for more information and to find out how to take part.

How to avoid a cold (caller) this winter

Free “No Cold Caller” stickers are now available at Essex libraries to help vulnerable people protect themselves from rogue traders.

#InstaEssex – Capturing the culture of Essex

What best describes Essex culture to you? Is it some of our buildings and architecture; our artwork and theatres; local street and contemporary social culture; or perhaps there’s an iconic image you think sums up the county? Whatever it is, the #InstaEssex campaign wants to capture it with a photography competition that’s open to both amateur and professional photographers.

15 winning images will be displayed at London Liverpool Street station and at branch line stations across Essex. From these winners the top three will be awarded cash prizes of £1,000 (first prize), £500 (second prize) and £250 (third prize).

If you’re stuck for inspiration why not take a look at the Explore Culture website. Or if you’d like to brush up on your photography skills, why not take part in one of the #InstaEssex workshops.

If you don’t fancy submitting a photo but still want to share your thoughts, you can join the discussions on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter using #Instaessex. The competition is open until Mon 15 February 2016 so there’s plenty of time to get snapping!

Boost Your Online Skills

If you were fortunate enough to receive a new smartphone, tablet or PC at Christmas and you’d like help to get online, then why not brush up your IT skills for free at CBC’s digital bazaar events and online drop-in sessions beginning this month and running throughout 2016.

At CBC’s digital bazaar events and online drop in sessions, you are encouraged to bring your own device where you will receive professional help with setting it up.

Computers are available at all of the events and staff are there to support and teach you and undertake tasks such as setting up email addresses. You will also have the opportunity to meet some of CBC’s dedicated multi-skilled Zone Teams who have in-depth knowledge of local areas.

One to One Support

CBC also offer one-to-one support at any of the library hubs across Colchester. To book a free one hour session please complete CBC’s online form or call 01206 282222.

Local Health Matters Meetings

Taking place twice a month in various parts of the North East Essex area, these meetings are free to attend without prior booking and give you an opportunity to discuss matters of concern or interest to you regarding Local Health matters. The minutes of the recent meeting in Colchester will give you an idea of what they are about:

Winter’s on its way

The unseasonal mild spell is coming to an end. Are you ready for wintry conditions on the roads? Keep up to date with road conditions via Essex County Council’s website or Twitter accounts.

Visit ECC’s winter travel web page for useful information about salt bins, salting (gritting) routes and links to other winter-related advice about school closures, flooding alerts and health. Follow @Essex_Travel and @EssexGritters for all the latest winter road updates from Essex County Council on Twitter. ECC does not manage the A12, A120, M11 and M25. Visit the Highways Agency website for information about these roads.

At midday every day during winter a weather report comes in to Essex County Council and the decision is made whether to send gritters out onto the Essex roads. Essex County Council has 59 gritters which grit 2,500 miles of roads in the county using a mixture of salt and brine. Find out how the gritting service works in a feature which appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times this week.

Remember to always drive to the weather conditions to keep safe on the roads this winter.

August 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Something to say about NHS Care?

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and social care in England. They have powers to register, monitor and inspect all health & care services and, in September, they are visiting Colchester to find out what you have to say about local services, in particular those provided by the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust. Taking place on Monday 7th September between 6pm – 7:30pm, at Colchester Town Hall (in the Grand Jury & West Committee rooms), you are invited to meet with the CQC’s inspectors and share your experiences with them. Of course, if you can’t wait until then, you are able to share your experiences anonymously at any time by contacting the CQC on:

e: [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”],
t: 03000 16161,
w: www.cqc.org.uk.

The CQC’s inspection method when reviewing a hospital or other service is focussed around 5 key questions:

Are they safe? Are you protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
Are they effective? Do they provide your care, treatment and support achieving good outcomes, helping you to maintain quality of life and based on the best available evidence?
Are they caring? Do staff involve and treat you with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
Are they responsive to people’s needs? Are services organised so that they meet your needs?
Are they well-led? Does the leadership, management and governance of the organisation make sure it’s providing high-quality care that’s based around your individual needs, that it encourages learning and innovation, and that it promotes an open and fair culture?

June 26, 2015

NHS seek views on service restrictions

Clinicians want to hear local views on plans to restrict services

Clinicians at North East Essex CCG are seeking local people’s views on their plans to restrict IVF services in the future – and they are inviting everyone to give their feedback. Under the plans, they are proposing restrictions to the current IVF service as it does not provide sufficient benefit to the overall health economy.

Certain groups of patients would still be able to access IVF: for instance, those patients who are undergoing medical treatment that would leave them infertile.

They also propose that couples experiencing difficulties in conceiving could still seek medical advice through their GP in the first instance.

Dr Hasan Chowhan, Clinical Director at the North East Essex CCG, said: We recognise that infertility is a very difficult issue for those affected by it and we have not taken this proposal lightly or without engagement with other clinical professionals. We fully intend to review this decision in the near future.

Between 2013/14, the CCG paid for 107 fertility procedures which amounted to £386k – the equivalent of:

25 drug treatment courses available for breast cancer;
15 community nurses;
104 hip replacements;
108 patients being admitted to an acute stroke unit at Colchester General Hospital.

Samantha Hepplewhite, Acting Chief Officer at the North East Essex CCG, said:

We have managed to achieve around £35m savings over recent years. However this challenge will continue as we need to find a further £14m savings each year for the next four years.

We have a requirement to stay within budget and if we do not implement these decisions and further proposals then we would have to select other services to restrict. Current local demands for healthcare services are costing more money than is currently available.

In addition, the CCG is also intending to restrict the following services:

Any Qualified Provider – Spinal Service – The CCG would control activity and expenditure for manual therapy and spinal services, ahead of these services moving to the lead provider arrangement in April 2016.
Clinical Priorities Policy – The purpose of this policy is to provide a mechanism for deciding whether referral of an individual patient for a specific assessment and treatment should be funded, based on clinical effectiveness.We are reviewing this policy to bring it in line with other NHS commissioners.
Continuing Healthcare – We believe that new patients requiring NHS continuing healthcare care at home, should be entitled to up to 10% above what it would cost for the same care in a residential or nursing home setting.
Gluten free – The CCG is restricting the prescribing of gluten free foods to young people, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and stopping prescribing these products altogether to all other adults. These products are now available in shops and there is a variety of alternatives widely available.
Threshold for elective procedures – All patients being referred for non-urgent elective surgery and who are smokers should be referred to smoking cessation services at the initial referral/assessment/appointment. Meanwhile, overweight and obese patients should be strongly encouraged to lose weight before their operation. Failure to attend smoking cessation or weight loss programmes may have an impact on whether individuals could undergo their procedure.
Vasectomy and female sterilisation – The community vasectomy and female sterilisation services are being reviewed by the CCG as these services have no or limited clinical value – rather they are considered as one of many forms of contraception. Both vasectomy and female sterilisation will however be available in cases of complex health needs.

Please see our consultation document with further details at www.neessexccg.nhs.uk

The CCG is holding a number of engagement events over the coming weeks aimed allowing local people to find out more about its plans.

Date	Venue
Friday 26 June (3pm)	Clacton – Sam’s Hall, CVST, Rosemary Road, Clacton CO15 1NZ
Tuesday 7 July (6pm)	Colchester – Room 12a, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR
Friday 10 July (2pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE
Thursday 16 July (6.30pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE

Please email to confirm your attendance at any of the above events –

[antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]

The closing date for feedback on our IVF proposal is Monday 7 September 2015. If you have any feedback in relation to these changes, please email your comments to [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or write to PALS, North East Essex CCG, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.

April 9, 2015April 8, 2015

Hay fever advice from local doctors

Blossom - guaranteed to bring a smile unless you have hay fever — Brings a smile unless you have hay fever

Hay fever advice from local doctors

The onset of spring with the sunshine and blossoming trees may brighten up some peoples’ lives, for others it means the start of hay fever misery.

The condition, which affects around one in four people nationally, is an allergy to pollen and usually results in sneezing, blocked noses or itchy eyes.

Local GP, Dr Gary Sweeney who is also Chair of the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

Normally around this time of the year, when the weather starts to warm up, more and more of us start experiencing hay fever symptoms. This is when different pollens start to grow which can affect people’s daily lives as well as interfere with their sleep.

However help is at hand through your local pharmacist who can recommend a range of treatment to reduce symptoms including nasal sprays, eye drops and tablets. There are also herbal remedies which are also available over the counter or from chemists.

But the condition can be more serious for some people – particularly those with long term conditions such as asthma. Dr Sweeney added:

People with these conditions should be very careful about what they take to treat hay fever and if they feel the condition is getting worse, they should consult with their GP.

There are some measures we can take to alleviate some of the symptoms.

Stay tuned to broadcast pollen count updates,
Staying indoors when the pollen count is very high and keep windows,
Avoid gardening or cutting grass.

The Self Care Forum was founded in 2011 by doctors, nurses and patients’ organisations to provide information and advice for common conditions, long-term conditions and healthy living. Fact sheets and symptom check lists to help people become more expert in preventing and managing health conditions at www.selfcareforum.org. Its hay fever guide is at http://www.selfcareforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/hayfever.pdf.

NHS online advice about hay fever is at http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hay-fever/Pages/Introduction.aspx.

February 16, 2015August 17, 2023

Who will care? Swap Shop

This ‘Who will care?’ summit is for community and voluntary organisations, health organisations and the public sector to debate the power of social action, exchange information and generate great ideas for health and wellbeing. It takes place on 23rd March, 9:30am – 2:00pm, at the firstsite Gallery, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester CO1 1JH.

Who will Care? is an independent commission led by Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett that sets out a number of high impact solutions to prevent future crisis in health and social care in Essex. It called for a new approach to supporting communities and people where the Community and Voluntary Sector plays a greater role and works collaboratively with the public sector.

This Swap Shop is intended to bring different sectors together to spark new ideas that can bring better quality solutions for citizens.

Hear about successful projects using social action and volunteering,
Consider a new culture of collaboration,
Question what needs to change for better outcomes,
Think about how community based initiatives can best be supported,
Discuss the key issues for Essex communities.

There is more information at www.essexpartnershipportal.org, book a place through [email protected].

Agenda

09.30 Registration, Coffee and Networking

10.00 Welcome and Who Will Care Update and Future Direction

10.10 Who Will Care Schemes Update

Two test and learn programmes will share their progress

‘Maldon Sheds’ – Sarah Laskar, CEO Maldon CVS
‘My Social Prescription’ Louise Willsher, Engagement Officer, Colchester CVS

10.25 Keynote Speaker: The Future of the Voluntary Sector

Kevin Curley CBE, Voluntary Sector Adviser

The growing hardship in our society which the local voluntary sector must respond to
The tension between delivering services and campaigning on behalf of those in need
Our responsibility to exploit new opportunities for raising the funds we need to be sustainable
The unchanging values which underlie all our work

10.50 Swap Shop – Session 1

Round table discussions hosted by leaders that bring new and different solutions to health and
social care by using social action and volunteering. Hear about how they do it, the challenges
encountered and the benefits it can bring the people involved.

11.35 Key issues for Essex – A discussion

11:45 Swap Shop – Session 2

12:30 Networking Lunch

13:00 North East Clinical Commissioning Group: Supporting Voluntary Action, Shane Gordon, Chief Officer, North East CCG

13:10 Keynote Speaker: People Powered Public Services

Daniel Farag, Senior Programme Manager, Nesta Daniel will explore how Social Action and people helping people can make a difference. He will consider the role citizens can play in powering public services, and how Social Action can change the nature of public services to achieve better outcomes. Referencing models of innovative practice from across the UK he will provide insight in to the benefits of working closer with our communities across a number of care settings.

13:30 An Interactive Summary – Ask the audience with Paul Hill, ACFO, Essex Fire & Rescue Service

13:50 Closing Remarks – Cllr Anne Brown

January 21, 2015

Local Health Forums – Get Involved

The Health Forum

The NEE Health Forum is a largely enthusiastic and committed body of people who are interested in health matters. They are all people who have registered as public members of North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Health Forum is not formally part of the Clinical Commissioning Group, but members of the Health Forum Committee are invited to be part of all decision-making meetings within the CCG so that they can obtain and reflect the views of people from North East Essex to the group in a timely way. The Clinical Commissioning Group wants the Health Forum to be as inclusive as possible, and so the criteria for eligibility are very broad. There is more detail on the Join the Health Forum page of their website.

Members of the Health Forum are able to vote for the Health Forum Committee. The Health Forum Committee has a number of sub-groups which are looking at specific health related issues. The Health Forum does not have any legal powers, but has been given local powers by the CCG. It works very closely with Essex HealthWatch, who do have legal powers.

Their important reports, including local Health Forum meeting dates, agendas and minutes and similar material relating to the Health Forum Committee can be found on their site in the Library.

The Health Forum issue monthly newsletters, Forum Focus, in which numerous local & national health issues are discussed – they can be accessed in the forum library. The most recent edition can be downloaded from :

Forum Focus January 2015

Get Involved at Local Health Forums

The Health Forum holds local meetings which any public member of the CCG can attend, regardless of where they live. The 3 local meetings are held at Colchester;Harwich; (rest of) Tendring – this is usually held in Clacton.

The next meetings are being held on 2nd, 3rd & 4th February (2pm – 4pm) respectively. The agenda vary slightly both from meeting to meeting but also by location, but will typically include items such as those due to be discussed in the February meetings:

NE Essex Community Pharmacy Scheme
CHUFT Cancer Services (Clacton & Harwich only)
Borough GP Care Advisory Service (Colchester only)
Carer Strategy Consultation
General Q&A

These meetings give Health Forum members a chance to receive presentations and ask questions relating to key health care issues and services in their area. They are also to raise concerns with the NEE CCG staff directly and Health Forum Committee members.

The Agendas for the local meetings are set by the Health Forum Committee who request speakers on the subjects they believe local people want to hear more about. The CCG supports the Health Forum Committee by finding suitable speakers and health professionals that are in a position to answer relevant questions.

All three local meetings are usually held within a week of each other and they occur bi-monthly (every other month). The dates of future meetings can be found on their events page.

The agendas and minutes of the Local Engagement forum are published in their Library under Health Forum.

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

NHS Care Consultation

Care Closer to Home and Urgent Care consultations:

The North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, with its partners, has started a 10 week consultation aimed at finding ways to provide effective and safe care within the community – known as Care Closer to Home. Have your say on plans to provide health and social care closer to peoples’ home. Please read the NE Essex CCG’s consultation document. Local people across north east Essex are being asked for their views on how health and social care services could be provided closer to their homes in the future.

The consultation is also suggesting a redesign in the way emergency and urgent care might be provided too, as part of its urgent care strategy. Their aim with both of these service redesigns is to ensure patients are at the centre of their care which will allow individuals to be seen in the right place, at the right time by the right expert.

These proposals follow a series of engagement activities, known as the Big Care Debate, in which many people called for services to be based around the individual needs of the patient as close to their home as possible.

Please give your views via an online survey.

If you prefer to download, print and post your response, please click the survey document here to download.

For further background, please see the CCG’s strategies published earlier this year:

Care Closer to Home strategy;
Urgent Care Strategy.
Please see the latest version of the detailed Full Business Case for Care Closer to Home.

Please come to one of the public meetings being held to hear a presentation and give your views, to book your place, please email [email protected] or call them on 01206 286500:

Colchester	Tuesday 13 January	4pm-6pm	United Reformed Church, Lion Walk Colchester CO1 1LX
Colchester	Tuesday 13 January	7pm-9pm	United Reformed Church, Lion Walk, Colchester CO1 1LX
Harwich	Wednesday 14 January	4pm-6pm	Long Meadows Community Centre, Long Meadows, Dovercourt CO14 4US
Harwich	Wednesday 14 January	7pm-9pm	Long Meadows Community Centre, Long Meadows, Dovercourt CO14 4US
Walton	Friday 16 January	4pm to 6pm	Columbine Centre, Princes Esplanade, Walton on the Naze CO14 8PZ
Clacton	Friday 23 January	4pm-6pm	Clacton Golf Club West Rd, Clacton CO15 1AJ
Clacton	Friday 23 January	7pm-9pm	Clacton Golf Club West Rd,ClactonCO151AJ