EVENT: Wiltshire Involvement Network Public Meeting

Thursday 9th February 10:30-12:30 at Devizes Sports Club

A representative from the Great Western Hospital will be attending to talk about the hospital trust's quality accounts. NHS Wiltshire will be updating on their work and GWAS will be talking about the potential merger with South West Ambulance Service.  Click here for information.

If you are concerned about or have experiences of: 

* Ambulance response times

* Hospital discharge 

* Help to Live at Home

then please consider coming along to the meeting to air your views.

For more information contact Lucie Woodruff on 01380 871800 or email luciewoodruff.wsun@btconnect.com

Please confirm your attendance either by contacting them on the above number or by emailing Tracie Clark winadmin.wsun@btconnect.com

INFO: Priority Service Registers

Do you care for a vulnerable person?

Consumer Focus states that energy suppliers are obliged to offer a range of free services (e.g. it can be arranged for your quarterly bill to be read free of charge if you are visually impaired or you could receive it in large print/Braille/CD), known as the priority services register, to their most vulnerable customers. These services are free to join and are available from all mains gas and electricity suppliers.

The scheme is available to all household gas and electricity consumers who are any of the following:

• of pensionable age
• have a disability
• have a hearing and/or visual impairment
• have long-term ill-health

It’s important to know that there are some free services that you can only get if you are receiving a means-tested or income-tested benefit.


To join an energy supplier’s priority services register an individual has to contact their supplier to request that they are added (a relative/carer can do this on behalf of someone else).


Consumer Focus have also produced a template letter which people can use to fill in and post/email to their energy supplier to register which you can download.

EVENT: Have a Go! Skills Tasters

Growing a skilled workforce for Wiltshire business breakfast and exhibition
a forum for employers and young people to meet

Wednesday 8 February 2012 Olympiad Chippenham
Thursday 9 February 2012 Salisbury Arts Centre

 Find out about career and training opportunities
 Check out local economic developments
 Confirm what training, qualifications and skills are needed

Contact Paul Gaunt, Wiltshire Council’s Employment and Skills
Programme Manager
Tel: 01225 718314; email: paul.gaunt@wiltshire.gov.uk

Download the full programme for the tasters

Why a lasting power of attorney is not just for the elderly

We all know that we should write a will, but too few of us know we should also consider something called lasting power of attorney.

By 2025, more than 1 million people in the UK will have dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Society. One in five people over 85 already suffers from it, with rates significantly higher among women than men. Handling your financial affairs becomes virtually impossible – which is why charities who care for the elderly recommend everyone plans ahead to ease the potential burden on our relatives.

A lasting power of attorney (LPA) gives another individual the legal authority to look after specific aspects of your financial affairs or health and welfare should you lose the capacity to do so. It's not just for the elderly; younger people may become incapacitated through accident or illness.

If you do not have an LPA in place and later become mentally incapacitated, relatives may face long delays and expense in applying to the court of protection to get access and take control of your assets and finances.

Full Article on Guardian Money

EVENT: Pewsey Forum

Wednesday 22nd February 

Come along to the Pewsey Forum - 12noon until 2pm at the Parish Office, rear of Bouverie Hall, Pewsey.

Any resident of the Pewsey Community Area can attend Forum and speak. This is an area much wider than the village of Pewsey itself and encompasses some 22+  surrounding parishes, out to Upavon in the south, Alton/Chirton/Marden to the west, Bedwyn to the east and Oare to the north. 

Anyone who is not sure if they live in the Pewsey Community Area  can phone the Clerk on 01672 562014 and she will tell you if they are eligible to attend.

NHS reform bill: Royal College of GPs urges scrapping

The Royal College of GPs has called for the health bill to be scrapped, heaping more pressure on the government's controversial reforms in England.

In doing so, it becomes the first of the medical royal colleges to move to outright opposition.

The college, which represents 34,000 GPs in England, said the overhaul had to be stopped because it threatened to cause "irreparable damage" to care.

A health minister said he was "baffled" by the RCGP's criticisms.

Full Article on BBC News

SURVEY: HealthWatch England

Healthwatch will make the NHS and social services accountable to their local communities and make sure that people can access information and get their voices heard when services are being planned and delivered. 

They want to ensure that how Healthwatch looks and sounds suits its public-facing function.Your input at this stage will help them to understand the tone they need to strike in order to help Healthwatch deliver what it should for the public, patients, and anyone who needs to access health or social care services.

They have developed some key messages about Healthwatch - about what they do, how they do it and why. These have been developed with key stakeholders, now they need your views to help them refine these messages and make sure that what they're focussing on resonates with you.

The questionnaire has 20 questions and should take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete and is your chance to give input at a really crucial stage of work on all their communications into the future. They will not contact you as a result of your participating and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

Complete the Questionnaire