NHS VOLUNTARY SECTOR CONSULTATION

To the University of Nottingham, the Innovation Park, Jubilee Campus. The space-age looking Sir Colin Campbell Building there (photo above) is the venue for a consultation between NHS East Midlands and representatives of the Voluntary and Community Sector in the region, on "Liberating the NHS". I'm there, representing the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP), along with Tonia Frew from Leicester LGBT Centre and Liz Harrison from Leicestershire Centre for Integrated living (LCIL).

The event is hosted by Maqsood Ahmed, Head of Inclusion for NHS East Midlands. this is the third time I've been at a meeting addressed by Maqsood, who was guest speaker at Leicester Council of Faiths AGM in October.

Around 40 people are in attendance, representing a variety of organisations, such as:

• African Institute for Social Development
• Alzheimer's Society
• AWAAZ, Asian Mental Health Resource Unit
• Bassetlaw District Council
• BME Community Development Project
• Centre for Social Justice
• Citihealth Nottingham
• Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Derbyshire Friend
• Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust
• East Midlands Cancer Network
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre
• Leicester LINks
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Lincolnshire LINks
• Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS East Midlands
• NHS Leicester City
• NHS Lincolnshire PCT
• NHS Nottingham City
• NHS Nottinghamshire County
• Nottingham University Group
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
• Nottinghamshire Royal Society for the Blind
• University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust

Opportunities and challenges in the ongoing restructuring of the NS which are of particular relevance to organisations like ours were front and centre of our discussions here today, such as:

• embedding inclusion and equality into new structures: Department of Health; NHS Board; GP consortia; Health Watch England; local Health Watch.
• role of voluntary sector; supporting groups with protected characteristics.
• effectively engaging diverse patients, carers, excluded groups and those with protected characteristics.
• measurement and accountability of equality outcomes.

REDP is the only organisation from the Voluntary and Community Sector exhibiting today. Normally we have to fight for space at events like these. At EMAS's "Community in Unity" event at Nottingham Council House at the start of November last year, we had to make do with half a table top.

At the end of the session, I'm given five minutes to introduce REDP, say why we're here and encourage further involvement in our project. This appears to be received positively, with a number of strong contacts and definite leads.

Here's Liz and Tonia on the train back to Leicester after the conference. Yes, it did seem like it had been a long day.