Local Involvement Networks (LINks)

The Dudley Local Involvement Network (LINk) gives you the opportunity to influence your local health and care services. Anyone can get involved, and it has been set up to make sure that people in Dudley get the health and social services they need.

Your LINk wants to hear about your experiences of health and social services and your ideas for improvements or changes. It has the power to implement small changes and influence big changes.

LINks in Dudley

Dudley Council has been engaged in two activities for the Local Involvement Network in Dudley.

(1) Acquiring a Host organisation

Dudley Council completed the process of recruiting a Host to support the local LINk in July 2008 and awarded Shaw Trust with the Host contract for the next three years.

(2) Establishing a Transitional Dudley Local Involvement Network

Prior to Shaw Trust being appointed as the Host, Dudley Council established a Transitional LINk group to work out how to set up the initial LINk structure and to carry out LINk activities until the Host was in place.

If you want to know more about the Dudley LINk or express interest in becoming involved then please contact Carrie Chappel on 01460533945 or 07971872455.

Frequently asked questions

(1) Why are LINks being set up?

There have been changes over the past few years in how health and social care services are planned and run. All of these changes aim to make services better. People are being offered more choice in the services they get and who provides them. Health and social care services are working more closely together and are trying to listen more to people who use them about their needs. Ideas about how to do this were published in July 2006 in a report called 'A Stronger Local Voice' which said that there needed to be new organisations called Local Involvement Networks - LINks.

(2) What will LINks do?

LINks will encourage and support local people to get involved in how local care services are planned and run. They will listen to local people about their needs and about their experience of services. A LINk will also work with care professionals to make sure their views are heard.

LINks will feedback this information to the people responsible for commissioning, providing, managing and checking up on health and social care services so that things can change for the better.

(3) Who can be part of a LINk?

A LINk should be able to represent everyone in the community so all of the different groups and types of people that make up the local population will be able to join. LINk members can include user-led organisations, local voluntary and community sector organisations and individual people. People do not have to be members of a LINk to get involved or have their say.

(4) How will LINks be set up?

Each Local Authority will get money from the Department of Health and will use it to pay a Host organisation. The host will be responsible for setting up the LINk and giving practical support to keep it going. If a Host is not in place by April 2008, the Local Authority will have a duty to make sure that LINks activities are carried out until the Host is recruited.

(5) How is the Dudley LINk supported?

The Dudley LINk is supported by Shaw Trust and will:

help the LINk to set up
encourage local groups, organisations and individuals to get involved, especially those who are not always heard
work with local people and groups to set up how the LINk will work locally and how it will decide what to do
hold the money for the LINk and be responsible for keeping records of how money is spent
regularly let local people know what the LINk is doing and ask them for their views
keep good records of what the LINk does and who is involved
provide advice and support to the LINk
make regular reports to the Local Authority about how it is supporting the LINk
work with other strategic organisations and partnerships locally

While the Shaw Trust will work directly for the LINk helping it to carry out its policies and plans, it will be contractually accountable to Dudley Council.

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