Newsletter
“A consortium of leading women’s organisations providing expertise
on improving the health of all women and girls in England”
AUGUST 2014
WHEC
Call for case studies on personal budgets and dementia - WHEC is collecting evidence and case
studies for two pieces of work. One around how personal budgets impact on women and one on
women and dementia. We would be very grateful if you had any examples that we could use in this
work. Questions we are interested in include 1) has your service has been impacted by personal
budgets or have any women using your service had to make a choice using a personal budget? Or
have any women you work with been in receipt of a personal budget to provide care? 2) Do you
provide a service for women with dementia? Or do any women you work with care for others with
dementia? If so, we would be very grateful if you could email Annette by 19 September with a short
outline of how personal budgets or dementia have impacted you. If we can use your case study, we
will ask for more details and you will win the chance to get £100. Many thanks in advance!
A message from Zoe Palmer at WHEC – after 4 years managing WHEC, I will be leaving on 22 August.
It’s been such a pleasure working with many of you and I wish you all the best in the future. Please
contact [email protected] for any future WHEC correspondence
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
NHS Constitution easy read – the DoH has produced an easy read version of the NHS Constitution,
to help to ensure that it is accessible to a range of audiences increase its impact. For more
information, please click here.
NHS ENGLAND
NHS England Chief announces personal budget roll out - Simon Stevens, the CEO of NHS England,
has announced the widespread roll out of personal budgets to allow patients greater control over
their healthcare. For more information, please click here.
NHS England Patient Engagement Event (23rd Sept, London)- as the single commissioner for all NHS
dental services, NHS England has embarked on an ambitious programme of work to transform the
way in which dental services are delivered from the high street dentist to specialist care in
hospitals. As part of this work, in order to ensure patients and public have a voice in this
transformation agenda, NHS England is holding a very special patient engagement event. Anyone
interested should RSVP via [email protected] (07593 921334) by Friday 22nd August. NHS England
is especially keen to engage with vulnerable groups of patients, i.e. those who may feel they do not
have their voice heard as loudly as those who have no access issues.
NHS England publishes Annual Report - NHS England has published its first Annual Report and
Accounts setting out its achievements in the last year and its aspirations for 2014/15. For more
information, please click here.
NHS takes action to tackle race inequality across the workforce - The NHS Equality and Diversity
Council, chaired by Simon Stevens have announced action to ensure employees from black and
ethnic minority (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and fair treatment in
the workplace. For more information, please click here.
Invitation to take part in the NHS Citizen Assembly and NHS England’s Annual General Meeting
(AGM) - NHS Citizen’s Assembly and the NHS England AGM will take place in London on the
Thursday 18th September 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre. NHS Citizen (website)
allows members of the public to put forward their thoughts, concerns and vision for the future of
the NHS. These ideas will then be discussed at the NHS Citizen Assembly Meeting, where Members
of the Board of NHS England, NHS senior managers and members of the public will work together to
shape the future of the NHS. The day will contain lots of opportunities for patients, carers and
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members of the public to debate, deliberate and work together to explore solutions to issues
important to health and well-being in England. Further information on how to register for a place is
here. If you require support to attend the event please contact Mary Newsome or call 0113 825
1338 and we will discuss how we can help you.
National opportunity for getting involved in dental services improvement - NHS England is looking
for patients, carers and voluntary sector partners to get involved in its dental commissioning work.
There is an opportunity to join five dental commissioning working groups and the closing date for
applications 5 September. For more information, please email Dionne Hilton.
PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND
Health profiles 2014 - These profiles bring together existing information into one place to provide a
snapshot of health and wellbeing across each local authority in England. For more information,
please click here.
HEALTHWATCH ENGLAND
Healthwatch England strategy 2014-16 - Healthwatch England have published their final business
plan and strategy reflecting their strategic direction over the next few years. For more information,
please click here.
CONSULTATIONS
Draft Guide for Patients on Complaints and Feedback in the NHS (deadline: 8 Sept) – the DoH is
consulting a draft guide for patients on making a compliant or giving feedback. To view the guide
and response, please click here.
The Dalton Review into new organisational options for providers of NHS care – the Health
Secretary Jeremy Hunt has asked Sir David Dalton, chief executive of the Salford Royal NHS
Foundation Trust, to conduct an independent review into new options for providers of NHS care. Sir
David will examine the potential benefits that different forms of organisation can offer the NHS as
well as the barriers to introducing them. The Review Team have launched an online survey to hear
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from a wide range of individuals and organisations. To complete the survey and share your views by
the end of August, please click here.
NHS outcomes framework review (deadline 12 Sept) - The Department of Health is asking for
thoughts on current proposals and long term planning for the NHS outcomes framework. The
document asks specific questions on 4 main areas of the framework including mental health,
children and young people, health inequalities and patient experience/safety. Feedback will be used
to update and improve the NHS Outcomes Framework. For more information please click here.
Making health and social care information accessible - NHS England has launched a consultation on
the draft accessible information standard. People with an interest in accessible information and
those who will be required to implement the standard are invited to comment on the draft standard.
For more information, please click here.
PARTNER NEWS
Request for information into Legal Aid cuts - WRC would like to reconvene the CEDAW Working
Group in response to the recommendations that came from the examination of the UK Government
in Geneva in July 2013 around legal aid. WRC are particularly interested in hearing about work you
have done around Legal Aid cuts, given that the Government are due to report back on this next
year. If you would like any more information or would like to share any your experiences of legal aid
cuts, please email Annette.
WRC response to consultation on new fund for the third sector - The Office for Civil Society recently
ran an open consultation on a new £40m fund to support the sustainability of voluntary, community
and social enterprise sector organisations. To read WRCs response, please click here.
Anxiety: hospital admissions highest in women in their late 60s – a press release in February from
the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that hospital admissions for anxiety increased
with age and were highest among older women. For more information, please click here.
Accountability inquiry into standards in sexual & reproductive health - by the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health has launched an inquiry to scrutinise how
far the ambitions of the Government’s Sexual Health Improvement Framework in England are being
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achieved, and looking at the future of sexual health services in England. In particular, there is
concern about the current accountability arrangements within the new NHS and public health
architecture and the lack of proper oversight over the quality and outcomes delivered by sexual
health services. The APPGSRH is seeking written evidence until October. For more information,
please click here.
RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
Comparing apples with oranges? How to make better use of evidence from the voluntary and
community sector to improve health outcomes and supporting case studies – this briefing was
produced by the NHS Confederation. For more information, please click here.
Women and Girls at Risk: evidence across the life course - The review looked across the life course
of women and girls who experience poor outcomes (offending, homelessness, prostitution and
exploitation, chronic mental health and substance abuse) and whilst highlighting significant gaps in
the evidence. To read the review, please click here.
A practical guide to measuring and managing impact - The European Venture Philanthropy
Association has published this guide to set and EU-wide standards on impact measurement. For
more information, please click here.
Changes to the EU Procurement Directives - NAVCA have been inputting into the European
Commission's on-going process of modernising its Procurement Directives on behalf of the voluntary
sector since 2011. They have produced an update on the changes that might be of use and interest
to women’s VCS. For more information, please click here.
EVENTS AND TRAINING
Health Inequalities in London: Developing Joint Solutions to achieve better health outcomes for all
(29 October, Amnesty International London) – this is a FREE LVSC event aimed at equality groups,
the wider voluntary & community sector (VCS), policy makers and commissioners. Through
presentations, case studies and interactive workshops, this event aims to provide a better
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understanding of the current health & care structures and how these impact on health inequalities.
For more information and to register, please click here.
Seeing the wood for the trees - an overview of data available to the sector that can be used for
demonstrating impact, campaigning and fundraising (17 Sept), London – this event will show
examples of voluntary sector research at local and London wide levels, on specified themes including
health, policing and crime and employment, debate the limits of data available and the sectors
capacity to make effective use of it and help identify the ‘gaps’. This FREE workshop is open to all
Voluntary and Community organisations and Social Enterprises based in London.
To book places please click here.
Central/West London Borough Surgery, September 16 - This exciting event will equip your
organisation with knowledge on commissioning, give you the opportunity to network with other
organisations in Central and West London and provide you with information on building partnerships
and developing social enterprises. This event is open for people working in the women’s sector and
with those affected by sexual and domestic violence with a focus on Westminster, Kensington and
Chelsea, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, and City of London. To register, please click here.
Building Relationships with Funders and Commissioners, September 17 - This course will look at
practical ways to make contact with funders and commissioners, influence commissioners’ priorities
and strategies and present the case for your work effectively. This course is funded and specific
groups can attend for free. These courses are FREE if you are an organisation or project based in
London working with those affected by sexual and domestic violence. To register, click here.
Making the case: Equalities and Human Rights, September 24 - This training will help you increase
your knowledge of the pieces of current human rights and equalities documents that are referred to
in the UK, raise your awareness of how they are relevant to your service users and give you the skills
to use them to make the case for your organisation and the services you provide.
This training covers: The Equalities Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty 2011, CEDAW and using
Judicial Review. To register, click here.
Innovation for you organisation, September 25 - This training will help you to learn about
innovation, encourage your organisation and staff to be innovative, how to progress your ideas and
understand how to explain your innovative services to funders. This is a special course. This means
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that the courses have not been funded and we are not able to offer free places. Please refer to
WRC's website for more information on how to register.
Challenging Inequality: The Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty, October 8 - This
free conference has been organised by the Women’s Resource Centre as part of the ASCENT project
to promote the knowledge of how to use the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty as tools to
challenge decisions that undermine equality amongst organisations working to support those
affected by sexual and domestic violence. To register, click here.
Business Planning, October 9 - This training will improve your knowledge of business planning and
give you the tools and resources to create one for your organisation. Participants will take away an
understanding of the purpose of a business plan, practical tools and techniques for its development,
an overview of its sections, and an action plan to complete the business plan for your organisation.
To register, click here.
Valuing volunteering in Health and Social Care: using research to make the case for investment (2
Oct, Leeds) - this symposium is hosted by the Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund, CSV and
Leeds Metropolitan University and will explore how the voluntary, community and social enterprise
(VCSE) sector can use research to demonstrate the impact of volunteering to commissioners and
funders in the health and care economy. For more information, please click here.
FUNDING
Core funding and free training for health charities - 2015 GSK IMPACT Awards (19 Sept) - GSK’s
IMPACT Awards reward charities that are doing excellent work to improve people’s health.
Organisations must be at least three years old, working in a health-related field in the UK, with
income between £25,000 and £2 million. Up to 20 awards will be made ranging from £3,000 to
£40,000 plus free training valued at up to £6,000. Organisations will also have a film made, receive
help with press and publicity and be given a set of promotional materials. For more information,
please visit here.
Autism Innovation Fund: apply for grants to improve local services (deadline 26 August) - The
government has made £1.2 million of funding available to improve local autism services and increase
awareness. The funding is available as part of Think Autism, the update to the 2010 Adult Autism
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Strategy for England. Local authorities, NHS, third sector, commercial and voluntary organisations or
individuals with autism in co-production with any of the above are all encouraged to apply. For more
information, please click here.
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