Local Involvement Networks or 'LINks' were set up by the Government in April 2008 to give local people a stronger voice in how their health and social care services are delivered.
A LINk is an independent network of local people, community associations, residents' associations and faith groups who are interested in helping to shape healthcare services and who want to strengthen the quality of local health and social care services. LINks have a responsibility to discover what people want from their health and social care services and work with local healthcare providers.
Here at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust we work with two LINks. If you are interested in getting involved or would like more information about LINks in Durham and Darlington please click on LINks Darlington or LINks Durham
LINks support our Trust, by carrying out Enter and View visits across health care settings. Visits are co ordinated with ourselves and are carried out as part of a constructive relationship between LINks, commissioning services and health care services.
The ethos is not to seek fault with local services, but to observe standards of care and provision of care services to identify what is working well and what can be improved. All authorised LINks representatives have been tained to deliver this service. Over the next few months, LINks plan to visit various departments across University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital and will report their findings, which will influence future service delivery.
