Closer LINK to Rochdale Health and Social Care

12.00.00am GMT Thu 9th Oct 2008

Rochdale is to welcome a brand new service dedicated to gaining resident's views and suggestions on health and social care issues. Voices4Wellbeing is a new Local Involvement Network (LINK) organisation that is asking Rochdale resident's with an interest in health and social care issues to come forward.

Julie Darbyshire, Rochdale's Senior Development Officer for LINK said: "The idea of Voices4Wellbeing is to provide a mechanism to bring organisations and individuals together. More importantly it is to provide a stronger voice and to feed issues of concern to the people who make decisions about health and social care services in this Borough.

"No one has to 'join' the LINK and you don't have to attend any meetings to get involved. You choose how you would like to get involved and the LINK will provide innovative ways for you to do this. This is your chance to make a difference to your community and improve health and social care services."

Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, Councillor Dale Mulgrew said: "I thought it was important to visit the new LINK team for the Rochdale Borough as they develop their role and get the entire project off the ground. I was involved in the appointment of a host organisation and so I wanted to see how things were materialising since the Gaddum Centre was chosen. Plus it also meant that I was able to show some support for what they are doing through this early phase of them setting up their vision for Rochdale.

"The LINK has a wider remit then its predecessor - the patient and public involvement forums - because it is now tasked with extending into the realm of social care as well as health. Because of this widening of the role, the LINK will play a huge part in getting the public engaged with the developing health agenda in Rochdale. This in turn should lead to a better level of understanding of the key issues and a greater tuning in from the people that this all will affect."