March Edition Newsletter

Welcome to the March edition of Shropshire Health & Wellbeing E-News. This E-Newsletter is for everyone interested in health and wellbeing.

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Consultation on the Care Act

Shropshire Council is running a consultation on the Care Act. The Care Act is bringing about reforms in law relating to care and support for adults and their carers. The aim is to put the wellbeing of individuals and carers at the heart of care and support services.

There are aspects of the Care Act that can be decided locally. These are around fees, charging and the Universal Deferred Payments Scheme. To find out about these and to have your say on the proposals, please go to: http://new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/the-care-act-fees-and-charges/#proposal and complete the consultation.

The survey is open until 28th April 2015.

Men's Sheds in Shropshire

Men’s Sheds are places where older men can meet, undertake some form of activity in the company of others, and find friendship and companionship. This might be through workshop activities such as woodwork, metalwork or some form of engineering.

It is a national movement which aims to engage older men into community activities, to meet friends and remain actively involved in society. It also helps to combat loneliness as well as giving volunteers the opportunity to share skills and expertise.

Men in Sheds in Shropshire (MISIS) is now helping to set up two sheds; one in Oswestry and one in Newport, Shropshire. The team are looking to recruit volunteers to help get the initiative off the ground. They are looking for the help of older but active men who can offer one or more of the following skills:

• Administrative and organisational skills
• Public and media relations experience
• Networking and public presentation skills
• Website design and maintenance
• Craft training expertise and experience

Above all, they want the help of people who have ‘the energy and willingness to get the job done, and done properly’!

The amount of time for helping is up to each individual and MISIS would love to hear from anyone who is interested in being involved. Please get in touch via email: meninshedsshrops@btinternet.com or by calling 01743 231648. You can also take a look at the website: http://www.misis.org.uk/index.htm

Once the shed is set up, MISIS will be looking to recruit older men to join the shed and to be a part of the community.

To find out more, please take a look at this brief recruitment leaflet explaining the purpose of Men’s Sheds.

Children's Trust Area Forums

This spring, Shropshire Children’s Trust and the Shropshire Safeguarding Children’s Board are hosting three events across the county for professionals, practitioners and stakeholders.

The theme of the events is ‘Our Family’. The forums will be interactive and will ask stakeholders to think about how your community supports local families. There will be an opportunity to find out more about the Shropshire Council Early Help and Family Solutions programmes.

Monday 27th April 2015
The Trinity Centre, Meole Brace
09:30am – 12:30pm

Tuesday 28th April 2015
Ellesmere Town Hall
09:30am – 12:30pm

Friday 1st May 2015
Craven Arms Community Centre
09:30am – 12:30pm

Take up the challenge from Shropshire Safeguarding Children Baord that the welfare and safeguarding of Shropshire’s children is ‘Everyone’s Business’.

To confirm your attendance, please contact Hayley Barnett-Hook on 01743 253987 or Hayley.Barnett-Hook@shropshire.gov.uk

Further information and a full agenda will be provided nearer to the date.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Save the date!

The Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly (VCSA) will be hosting their Annual Assembly on the 20th May 2015. There will be guest speakers, presentations from the VCSA and partners, and lots of opportunities to network. Save the date in your diary now!

20th May 2015

9am-1pm

Shrewsbury Town Football Club

Catch up on Newsletters from around the county

Healthwatch Newsletter

Earlier in March Healthwatch Shropshire published their Winter newsletter. This includes updates about Enter & View visits, the publishing of the first research grant report from Autonomy and engagement news.

Click here to read the full newsletter.

Healthwatch Public Board Meeting

Healthwatch’s next Board meeting will be held in public on 26th May at 2pm at the Central Baptist Church in Shrewsbury (SY1 1Qg). Prior to the Board meeting there will be a ‘drop-in’ session from 12:30pm-2pm where you can have a chat with members of the team and the Board about Healthwatch’s work, share any experiences of health and social care services, or just enjoy a hot drink and a chat!

VCSA Newsletter

Click here to read the latest newsletter from the VCSA. Find out about social inclusion, autism training and much more.

Freedom Shropshire Newsletter

The latest Freedom Shropshire newsletter includes updates around news blogs, a new app for young women and upcoming events. Click here to read the March edition. 

Children and Young People’s Team newsletter

Shropshire’s Children and Young People’s Team Newsletter have published their second newsletter. The newsletter includes updates around the ‘Respect Yourself’ programme, Shropshire’s under 18 conception rate and much more.

Final call on Autism survey

Shropshire’s 0-25 autism survey closes on the 29th March. If you are the parent, carer or guardian of a child or young person aged 0-25 years who is on the autistic spectrum, please complete this survey.

Shropshire Children’s Trust are trying to find out more about families’ experiences of services in the county and your responses will help to complete the autism needs assessment for Shropshire.

To find out more about the survey, please read the Newsroom article here.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

Feedback is being sought on Shropshire’s draft Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA). The PNA seeks to establish information about pharmaceutical services that are offered across the county. It is created to ensure that pharmacies are offering the right services in the right locations to meet the needs of Shropshire residents.

To read the draft document and provide your feedback, please click here. To read more about the PNA, please click here. The consultation period will close on 15th April 2015.

Welsh Affairs Committee Report

The Welsh Affairs Committee has published its Inquiry into Cross-Border Health Arrangements between England and Wales.

During the summer months, Shropshire Council, Shropshire CCG and Healthwatch submitted written evidence to the Inquiry. The report discusses key issues including access to service, waiting times and ‘patient choice’.

You can read the full, published report here.

Got some news to share?

If you have a topic or article that you would like to feature in this newsletter, please contact us by email: shropshiretogether@shropshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01743 253937.

Health and Wellbeing Board - Next Meeting:

The next public Health and Wellbeing Board meeting will be held on Friday 27th March 2015, 9.30am at Shirehall in Shrewsbury.

The agenda and relevant papers will become available on the Health and Wellbeing webpage prior to the meeting. Please see the attached link below to access previous meeting agendas:

Health and Wellbeing Board