Making Your Voice Heard.. The first decade of the Eastern Health and Social Services Council

1993-94: Progress through information and advocacy

By the beginning of 1993, the Council was making its mark upon the health and social services - and among the ever-growing number of people seeking its help.

The Council stated in this year that its principal objective was "to be visible and accessible to members of the public" and it actively promoted this through a number of landmark initiatives:

• The publication of a range of advice leaflets that offered information on services as diverse as those provided by hospitals, dentists, GPs and opticians.
• The opening of four new 'satellite' advice centres at offices of the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Downpatrick, Bangor, Lisburn and Newtownards.
• The setting up of a special complaints review group with local health and socials services trusts in a bid to better manage a growing number of complaints about their services.
• The Council's recognition that managing complaints from members of the public about their health and social services would form a significant part of its future business.
• The designation by the Council of a new patient advocate - a member of its staff specially assigned to represent patients in their dealings with health and social services organisations.
• The launch of a new and ambitious programme of research to monitor the quality and effectiveness of health and social services and one that continues to this day.

By the end of the year, the number of people contacting the Council for information and advice was soaring. The number of general enquiries to the Council rose more than five-fold over previous year from 169 to 915. And the number of complaints on which people often needed elaborate and continuing advice also increased from 114 to 150. So by the start of 1995, the Council was giving a real and effective voice to needs and aspirations of service users - and challenging the health and social services to respond sensitively to these.