Background
Cheshire Community Voice (CCV) was created as a new Charity in 2006.
Prior to CCV’s formation, the former South Cheshire Health Authority, the Health Authority and what was then Cheshire Social Services jointly funded a network of Local Care Forums across Cheshire to act as a vehicle for consultation between the two statutory services and the vast and complex voluntary sector including user and carer groups.
The Local Care Forums served Health & Social Services well and this structure was integrated with the Joint Planning machinery which existed then. The network was used for consultation on a wide range of health and social care issues; regular workshops were held; and a core administration team supported local and central planning arenas for children, people with learning disabilities and people with physical and sensory impairments and the Local Care Forums. Mental Health was served by three Mental Health Forums in the West, Central and East. This arrangement aimed to achieve total coverage accessing the views of the vast range of consumers who contributed to planning and service development.
When the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were set up, the centralised Cheshire wide system was replaced by other mechanisms, though some of the structures remained. Over time, most of the original Local Care Forums ceased to exist but Central Cheshire Forum continued with a locally driven agenda. Cheshire County Council, on behalf of Adult Services and the PCTs renegotiated a contract for a new body, the new CCV in 2006, and continued to provide core funding until 2008.
CCV stood alongside Patient and Public Involvement Forums (PPIFs) which replaced the former Community Health Councils (CHCs) in 2003. The PPIFs were themselves linked to Health Trusts, but like the CHCs, had no remit in relation to Social Care – unlike CCV and its predecessors, the Local Care Forums which covered Health and Social Care. PPIFs have now been replaced by Local Involvement Networks (LINks) set up by Act of Parliament with a remit to cover both health and social care,