Local involvement network
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 2008 |
| Preceding |
|
| Dissolved | April 2013 |
| Annual budget | £84 million |
| Parent department | National Health Service |
Local involvement networks (LINks) were launched by England's National Health Service in April 2008 following the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. They replaced the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) and patient and public involvement forums and existed in every local authority area with a responsibility for NHS health care and social services.
There were 151 LINks and the Government committed £84 million in funding to them until March 2011. They were abolished in April 2013.
LINks were supposed to ask people what they like and dislike about NHS care services and adult social care services and seek ideas from the public to help improve services. They explored specific issues of concern to the community by collecting feedback from local people. LINks could tell those who commission, provide and manage local services what the community thinks and work with commissioners and providers to improve, amend, reconfigure and supplement services. They also had the power to carry out visits to services to see them at work. They sometimes facilitated consultation on new or revised commissioning and provision of services.
LINks had the power to ask health and care commissioners for information about their services and expect a response within 20 days. They issued reports and made recommendations about services and expect responses from commissioners. The power to enter certain services and view the care provided is called Enter & View. LINk members had to undergo training in order to carry out this power. LINks could also refer health & social care matters to the local council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee if local service providers did not provide a satisfactory response.
There was no set structure for a LINk. Funding came from local councils, who were given money by the Department of Health to finance them. Each LINk is hosted by a "host organisation" of paid staff who to set up and support the LINk. The host is accountable to the LINk. LINks are independent of the Government. An example of a host organisation is Voluntary Norfolk, the lead partner of a consortium selected as the host for Norfolk LINk.
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