Southern Trust sets up Forum for People with Disabilities
28 May 2010
As part of its personal and public involvement strategy, the Southern Health Trust has worked in partnership with Disability Action to develop an Engagement Programme, which aims to give people with physical and sensory disabilities living in the Southern Trust area a say on how Health and Social Care services are delivered.
Through this programme a Service User Forum has been established and was launched recently at a presentation ceremony in Armagh.
Following introductory training, 15 Forum members were elected to go on a Representative Training Programme aimed at increasing the knowledge, skills and confidence of participants to enable them to work more closely with the Trust to influence how services for people with disabilities are planned and delivered.
Participants felt that the training represented a real achievement and were delighted that the Trust was taking the views of service users seriously in its efforts to improve services for people with disabilities.
Kevin Doherty, Director of Operational Services from Disability Action commented, "We are pleased to have worked with the Southern Trust in the delivery of the Engagement Programme. We commend the Southern Trust for developing this initiative and believe that it is a model of good practice that has the potential to be replicated throughout the Southern Trust as well as by other Trusts and Health and Social Care providers."
