The Hounslow Safeguarding Adults Board is responsible for ensuring that adults at risk of abuse in Hounslow are offered effective support. It is also responsible for developing plans to prevent abuse. The Board is trying to improve its engagement with the voluntary and community sector and would like to hear from you about your current understanding of adult safeguarding and the issues that are important to you. This will help it in designing future events and information for you. Please could you take the time to complete their short survey here
Archives for October 2016
New Hounslow Self-Help Directory
A new Health and Social Care Self-Help Directory has been produced by Hounslow Voluntary Sector Support Service (HVSSS) with support from Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Self-help is increasingly seen as an important part of recovery and prevention for health conditions. Many voluntary groups working in Hounslow provide support for people who may be newly diagnosed or living with long-term health conditions, and need advice on how to better manage their own health.
In any one borough there wonÂ’t be a self-help group for every condition. But there are many national organisations for specific conditions who offer excellent free fact sheets, online information or free telephone advice and counselling lines.
If you or a family member have been diagnosed with a health condition, it can be a real benefit to talk to other people in similar circumstances. Long-term health conditions can also impact on other parts of life such as the ability to work, travel, take part in social activities and maintain self-confidence.
The Hounslow Health and Social Care Self-Help Directory is a resource for local people, their families and carers to find groups that can provide support on different physical and mental health issues. It is also intended as a practical tool for local GPs, GP Practice Managers, Community Nurses, Pharmacists, other NHS professionals, Council staff, Public Health staff and local Care Navigators.
This Directory is an online interactive document. This means we can maintain it as a live document should organisation details change or should new selfhelp groups start up in Hounslow. But if you would like a hard copy to have to hand in your organisation please email iain@ealingcvs.org.uk.
To see the directory click here
The State of Care in England
The Care Quality Commission has produced a new report on the state of care in England. It finds that most services provide people with good care, but variation exists. Some care services are closing, increasing pressure on other services including GP practices and hospitals. Strong leadership and collaboration will be important to ensure services improve and quality is maintained. To see the full report click here
Volunteer to Help People in Court
Going to court alone can be terrifying. The Personal Support Unit (PSU) is there so that people donÂ’t have to. Their trained volunteers give practical and emotional support to people who are going through civil and family court proceedings without a lawyer. This new service is open at West London Family Court, Feltham.
Overview:
The charity began 15 years ago, with just three volunteers in one court in London. Now more than 550 volunteers help people in 19 courts across England and Wales. In the last year, the PSU has helped people more than 44,000 times.
At the start of 2013, the PSU was helping people 1,000 times a month across the country. Since then this figure has quadrupled, as more people find themselves in court and unable to afford a lawyer. Legal aid for civil and family cases, involving divorce, arrangements for children, housing and employment, is now largely unavailable. Without a lawyer, most people are confused by the court system and feel at an automatic disadvantage.
That is where the PSU comes in. The volunteers are there to give one-to-one assistance, helping each person to represent themselves to the best of their ability.
There is a real need for PSU volunteers at the West London Family Court, where approximately 70% of all private law children act cases involve at least one parent who does not have the benefit of any legal advice. Volunteers can help people without an appointment, free of charge, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9.30am to 4.30pm in the West London Family Court, Feltham. The volunteers help in many ways without giving legal advice: describing what might happen in court, helping to complete (or find the right) forms, sorting through paperwork and supporting clients to prepare it for a trained legal eye, guiding people around unfamiliar court buildings and sitting next to them in court to steady their nerves.
District Judge Middleton-Roy, is very supportive of the service and said “Having a PSU volunteer in Court hugely assists in aiding the understanding of vulnerable Court users of the complex legal system and its processes, empowering them, helping them to feel less disadvantaged, reducing the prospects of disrupting the process and assisting in facilitating that party in engaging effectively in the dispute.”Â
The PSU is the only organisation providing this service in the civil and family courts on a daily basis. It opened its doors in West London on 18th October, helping four people on that day alone, including accompanying an individual to his very first hearing.
The PSU Manager in West London is Klara Slater and she can be contacted to arrange appointments, discuss volunteering opportunities or for general enquiries on 020 8831 3573 or wlfc@thepsu.org.uk Website: www.thepsu.org.uk
