Missing LINk ‘should be up and running’

6:30pm Tuesday 26th August 2008

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A WATCHDOG for health issues in Lancashire needs to be up and running without delay, Pendle’s MP Gordon Prentice has insisted.

The Local Involvement Network (LINk) is the latest in a succession of scrutiny bodies designed to give patients a voice in the healthcare system.

Under the new system, not only will the work of health trusts be placed under the microscope but also the role of councils and other agencies in providing health and social care.

Mr Prentice said: “The previous bodies with this role, the Patient and Public Involvement Forums (PPIs), came to an end in March this year.

“But the process of getting the Lancashire LINk up and running is by no means complete.”

The MP has spoken out amid continuing disquiet over the changes to emergency care at Blackburn and Burnley’s hospitals.

He added: “LINks have a wider remit than the PPIs had, with social care as well as health.

“But at a time when so much is going on in the health service — and with so much disquiet over the Burnley / Blackburn changes — the independent voice of the public needs to be heard.

“The East Lancs PPI had a considerable programme of work that it was undertaking but this came to a halt in March and it might still be months before it is picked up again, if at all,” he added. “In the meantime the Lancashire County Council adult social care and health overview and scrutiny committee will be looking at health care in East Lancashire at its meeting on September 23.”

The watchdog role used to be performed by independent comm-unity health councils, which were scrapped in favour of consultative PPI forums. Whitehall is providing £84million over three years nationwide to ensure that the LINk initiative is a success.