Devolution has been a hot topic in Greater Manchester health and care organisations for a few months now. Public Health England has now joined the party. This means that it’s not just about the services people need when they become ill or need help with their personal care – it’s also about services that aim to stop people becoming ill. The overall aim of GM Devolution is to change Greater Manchester from having some of the worst health outcomes in the country to having better health for all GM residents. The GM Devo team believe that this can be done faster by working together than it can by sticking to the current structures and boundaries.

The GM Devo team have been busy putting things together to help people to understand what it’s all about. This includes:

•        An ebulletin - you can view it, or sign up, via their website www.gmhealthandsocialcaredevo.org.uk

•        They are planning to run regular briefing sessions for interested people to find out the latest – we’ll let you know when we’re told more about their plans

•        They are active on Twitter (@gmhsc_devo) and are promoting the #gmdevo hashtag, as well as planning twitchats in future weeks

At Healthwatch Tameside we are involved with colleagues across GM and will let you know about opportunities to have your say as soon as we know about them.

This short video from the Kings Fund talks about why capacity in the NHS and particularly in A&E is in the headlines a lot at the moment.

If you have a health concern that isn't urgent please try NHS Choices or phone the NHS 111 service (by dialling 111 from your phone).

Remember that pharmacies, primary care walk in centres and your GP (including their out of hours service) can also provide advice and care if your need is not urgent or it's not a major illness.

If you need emergency care (choking, chest pain, blacking out, significant blood loss & fractures are all considered emergencies by NHS England) – you should visit A&E or dial 999 if you are unable to get there independently.

If you have symptoms of vomiting and/or diahorea you should dial 111 in the first instance. They will be able to advise you what to do to get better at the same time as reducing the risk of passing it on to someone else.

Remember Accident & Emergency care is just that - please think about which is the right place to go if you do need care.

Planners in NHS and social care services across the country are talking about change. This short video should help you to understand some of the reasons for change. It also talks about our role at Healthwatch in helping you to have your voice heard.

One of these discussions is called Healthier Together. It is a review of health and care in Greater Manchester, it is looking at how to provide the best care for you and your family. There is information about this on the Healthier Together website. We submitted Healthwatch Tameside's formal response which you are welcome to read. This is what we said on behalf of the people of Tameside to help to influence these plans.

There are other ideas being looked at in our area. Care Together is an initiative between Tameside Council and Tameside & Glossop CCG (the organisation that pays for many of our NHS services). This is looking at how the NHS and social services can be better joined-up in their work. The public were involved in some early discussions about this and we'll make sure the report is available here once it has been published. We will also make sure we tell you about other opportunities to have your say.

Healthwatch Tameside has chosen to work with a social enterprise called Care Opinion  (was known as Patient Opinion until May 2017) to help us to tell your stories about the care you have received to the people who can make changes to care. We do this because:

• You can tell your story online, through our office or via one of our local Healthwatch Champions in the community - if you want to remain anonymous we can publish it on our account so your name is not used
• Once you have told us your story, it is posted so that the people who run the service can see it and their commissioner (the organisation that pays for the service on your behalf) can also see it
• There is an opportunity for the organisations involved in your care to respond to you - we can forward this response to you if you asked to remain anonymous
• We read every story and if we see patterns of good or poor care emerging from the stories we raise them directly with the organisations involved

We also use their Care Opinion service for feedback about social care services.

The NHS provides good quality services to most people but sometimes things do go wrong. Very often a problem can be resolved quickly, easily and informally but in some cases people may choose to make an official complaint. If you want to make a complaint about an NHS service you have received, we can help you by:

• Giving you a Self Help Information Pack that helps you to understand how the process works.
• Helping you to write down yourexperience in a clear, logical way.
• Helping you to ask for access to your medical records.
• Giving you feedback on draft complaints letters, etc.
• Supporting you to prepare for resolution meetings.
• Referring you to another service if you need someone to speak on your behalf.

For more information click here

Healthwatch Tameside is your local consumer champion for health and care.

About our work

We work with people who live in Tameside or who access health and care services in Tameside, to make sure your experiences of local services are heard by the people who make decisions about those services.

We also provide an information (signposting) service to help you to make informed choices about the services you can access.

From April 2014 we can also help people who want to make a formal complaint about NHS care they (or a close friend/family member) have received.

If you want to be involved in Healthwatch, contact us.