RAIN - Consultation
Romsey Area Information Network was originally set up because of the report on the Information and Consultation Day held in March 2002 for older people and carers. This report highlighted that 'Information' was a crucial issue for most people, particularly those who were ill or disabled and those who were trying to care for them.
The common themes from all who attended were:
- They did not know what information was around and therefore did not know what services were available
- They did not know where to access information, as different centres and groups and people held different information
- They could never access all the information they needed in one place, very often having to try several places in order to find the appropriate information for them.
- They would like to have accurate up to date information available when they needed it, wherever they happened to be and without being passed from pillar to post to find it.
It seemed to be a good point from which to begin to work together in the community and, as Romsey and District Carers Forum were planning to update their leaflet, they invited a group of local organisations and groups to come together to discuss how the information available in the community could be shared and used, for the benefit of everyone in the locality.
The original members of the network included Eastleigh and TVS Primary Care Trust, Romsey Friends, Romsey Talking Newspaper, Test Valley Community Services, Test Valley Borough Council - Customer Service Team, Romsey and District Carers Forum, Age Concern Romsey and District, Romsey Hospital Rehabilitation Service, Social Services, Romsey and District Carers Support Service (Sitting Service), Romsey Library, Citizen's Advice Bureau, Community Nurse Team, DWP Pension Service, Disability Forum, Alzheimer's Coffee Shop.
The network members began meeting in May 2002 to establish a coordinated Information Service in the area and initially to do four things:
- Investigate the possibility of setting up one register of accurate information that can be updated regularly and accessed in several contact points in the area
- Prepare a leaflet that will include basic information and also point people to other sources of information
- Ensure that the information can be accessed at a number of registered centres in several different ways including by post, in person, by telephone, by email, by cassette tape, by accessing a dedicated website.
- Establish a dedicated web site which will include some of the information currently available with changing priorities and to link the website to other appropriate websites and to provide several user-friendly centres in the Romsey area where people can access the Internet.
The information is only in its infancy and will be regularly changing and developing as new ideas are considered and new information becomes available.
The Registered Centres include out of hours access points and consideration will be given to increasing the number of centres if other sites feel they wish to take part and can provide someone who will maintain the information as it is re-issued.
