Is it an emergency?
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in Ipswich and East Suffolk News
A community event is taking place in Stowmarket next month aimed at showcasing how joined up health and social care services are benefiting local people and communities.
Community Connect will give residents the opportunity to speak to representatives from the NHS, council and voluntary sectors as well as from small businesses who work with local people.
It will take place at the Food Museum in the town on Friday 11 November between 9.30am and 3.30pm and will be free for members of the public.
The venue will also be the setting for the monthly Integrated Care Partnership Board meeting where system leaders from the NHS, local authority and third sectors discuss and agree strategic service priorities for the area.
Community Connect will be hosted by the Ipswich and East Suffolk Alliance – a local partnership which works collectively to improve the health and well-being of local residents.
Its Deputy Director of Partnerships, Louise Hardwick, is one of the organisers.
She explained: “This is the first time our alliance has held such an event in the community and it will be a great opportunity for us to highlight our work to the people and communities we serve.
“There will be a marquee which will accommodate some of the many community based organisations who will be showcasing the work they are doing to support local people.
“As it will be Armistice Day, the event will have a strong military theme which will raise awareness of the support we give to our local heroic veterans. Local and national speakers with military background will share their experiences of the health service and of course at 11am, we will be marking the two minute silence.”
Louise added a number of workshops will run throughout the day which will centre on the Alliance’s six domains – Start Well; Feel Well; Stay Well; Age Well; Be Well and Die Well.
She said: “These will be hosted by local charities such as the Green Light Trust, St Elizabeth Hospice, British Red Cross, Lofty Heights as well as clinicians and officers from within our system.
“It really will be a great day and I – and my colleagues from the Ipswich and East Suffolk Alliance – look forward to meeting local residents and hearing about their experiences.”
Councillor Andrew Reid will be chairing the Integrated Care Partnership board meeting.
He said: “I’m very keen to ensure that we make our decision making as transparent as possible to local people and this will provide a real opportunity for us to do this.
“This event will allow our system to really interact with the communities we serve and for them to gain a better understanding of the important role our system has.”