Press Release
Picker provides further warnings on LINks
PCTs’ reluctance to engage demands an event stronger local voice!
2 July 2007“The recent report by the Picker Institute4 strengthens the case for a robust independent system for patient and public involvement in health, and highlights the weaknesses in proposals presently before Parliament.” So says Sharon Grant, Chair of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.
“This report is a further warning call to the Government that we need far more resources and teeth for Local Involvement Networks (LINks), than currently planned. If PCTs are ignoring their responsibility to engage with Patient Forums and the general public, then we will need a much more robust and independent system to ensure the voices and experiences of patients are taken into account.
The NHS is not a natural home for public engagement. They struggle with it and there is already a huge scepticism over their ‘consultations’ – with many believing them to be merely ‘box-ticking exercises’.
With the demise of Patient Forums and the rise of LINKs, the Government needs to show that it too is fully committed to a patient–led NHS and to local accountability. If LINks are not taken seriously by PCTs and they do not have the powers to truly safeguard and promote the interests of patients – then who will? The Government needs to act now and make sure that LINks is fully-equipped to badger those PCTs who continue to drag their feet in involving the public in how they spend their money and deliver their healthcare.”
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