What's a LINk

A LINk has been set up in every area of England to help local people influence or change the way their local NHS and social care services are planned and delivered.

By being part of your local LINk you can make your voice heard and improve services.

A LINk is made up of individuals and community groups who work together to improve local health and social care services
The job of a LINk is to find out what people like and dislike about local services, and to work with the people who plan and run them to help make them better
This may involve talking directly to health and social care professionals about a service that is not being offered, or suggesting ways that an existing service could be made better
LINks also have powers to help them do their job and to make sure that changes happen

How we've helped

Hospital appointment letters

Some LINk members told us that they were not allowed to take a friend or family member into some appointments at hospital.

Lots of patients find it really useful to have someone with them to offer support during appointments, and so Bromley LINk raised this issue with the hospital.

As a result of the LINk’s action, hospital appointment letters have now been changed to make it clear that patients can have someone with them and this has benefitted many vulnerable patients in the borough.

Transport

After a suggestion from Bromley LINk, Bromley borough transport drivers now carry mobile phones so that carers or service users can be phoned if transport is running late.

Sexual Health services

Several LINk members noticed that patients were having to queue outside the sexual health clinic at Beckenham Beacon when the clinic was busy.

Bromley LINk raised this with the local NHS and the queuing system has now been changed so that patients can wait to access the service inside the building – putting an end to the embarrassment for patients who had previously had to wait outside.

Get involved now

Bromley LINk aims to be as inclusive as possible in order to represent the views of everyone in the borough. If you have something to say about your local health or social care services, we want to hear from you!

You don't have to join the LINk to give us your feedback on services, but the more members we have the more strength our views have. If you want to join and get more actively involved you can:

Receive information about the issues that matter to you
Tell us about your good and bad experiences of local health and social care
Respond to surveys and consultations
Attend LINk meetings to work on issues
Have a say in the direction of the LINk
Stand for election to the LINk Coordinating Group and represent your local community

If you want to know more about the LINk or talk about how you can get involved, contact the LINk office.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Get involved now

Our new website

Welcome to the new Bromley LINk website! We've redesigned it to make it easier for you to find out what LINks are, how we help our local communities and how you can get more involved or have your say on health and social care issues.

The site will be updated over the next few weeks to contain everything you need to know about Bromley LINk, so please bear with us while we do this.

In the meantime, if you would like to know more about the LINk or have any feedback on our new website then please tell us your views. If you'd like to join us then visit our Become a member page.

We hope to hear from you soon!

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