ICES OUTSOURCING
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Guest#1 Dec 24, 2013, 16:06
Needs to be kept in house....
Guest#2 Dec 24, 2013, 17:44
As the original Service Manager for this service, I know at first hand how committed the staff are and how they go out of their way to ensure that the vulnerable and disabled residents of Brighton & Hove do not suffer from isolation, lack of independance which can be supported via the delivery of equipment, this they do rain hail, snow and sunshine. The original PCT, Brighton and Hove Counci and Sussex Health made a commitment to provide this specialised service and should continue to support it as indeed the service has supported the key funders in such major events as Swine Flue and C DIff and Winter Vomiting by the provision of beds and other equipment to enable to local hospitals to furnish wards open only during these emergencies. Your ICES Service is a feather in your cap and you should continue to support this service. Jacqueline Marsh, Ex Service Manager ICES
Guest#3 Dec 24, 2013, 17:46
My job depends on this fabulous service and would be terrible to see it be taken way, please rethink
Guest#4 Dec 27, 2013, 15:15
I have worked in the ICES Equipment Store, Portslade for nearly 10 years.
I feel that we give 100 percent to all our clients. We give them the equipment the so badly need to survive at home and when there's a problem with something, we take the time to find out how we can help and replace items. This is something that if it outscoured to a private company all these people young, elderly and dying people's families will no longer get. They will not get the warmness and understanding which we give to them. It is very sad that the council want to get rid of us. Surely its more about the people that the money, one day we will all need help of some sort. Even the people that want to get rid of us and start with a private company's. Please, please think hard about this as it is very very important.
I feel that we give 100 percent to all our clients. We give them the equipment the so badly need to survive at home and when there's a problem with something, we take the time to find out how we can help and replace items. This is something that if it outscoured to a private company all these people young, elderly and dying people's families will no longer get. They will not get the warmness and understanding which we give to them. It is very sad that the council want to get rid of us. Surely its more about the people that the money, one day we will all need help of some sort. Even the people that want to get rid of us and start with a private company's. Please, please think hard about this as it is very very important.
Guest#5 Dec 28, 2013, 18:56
Public services should not be privatised.
Guest#6 Dec 30, 2013, 08:46
I have worked for this service since 1994 and since it's integration with Brighton and Hove City Council in 2004. The team here are extremely dedicated and provide an excellent personal service to clients being cared for in the community. The service provides equipment for both hospital discharge and for clients being cared for at home. The service does this in a very timely manner and our delivery and installation team provide a courteous and personal service. I would urge you to consider the high cost implications of out-sourcing this service and also the personal element that is given to our clients by all of the staff that are employed here.
Guest#7 Dec 30, 2013, 15:43
I have worked for the Integrated Community Equipment Service for a number of years. We are a prescriber lead service, with very little control on any overspend on the equipment budget. If a need is identified we have to supply it. These needs by clients are becoming more complex which impacts again on the cost to the service. This service should be having its budget increased with the monies being diverted from the acute hospitals where savings are being made due to timely discharges that this service provides, unlike the private sector. The feedback from clients and clincal staff are overwhelmingly in favour for this service to be kept in-house. Please re-think your decision and invest in this service.
Guest#8 Jan 02, 2014, 10:56
I agree with it whole heartedly and highly value the service currently provided by ICES. I am not convinced that the alternative proposed is in the best interests of our clients
Guest#9 Jan 03, 2014, 12:18
It would be huge shame if this service was outsourced. They provide an excellent and responsive service particularly for us within the acute Trust. We have built up a great working relationship with ICES. Experience of other equipment services which are contracted via commercial companies has been very sub standard and caused a number of problems when trying to facilitate discharges within a very fixed time frame. The technicians are courteous and knowledgable both for patients/relatives and staff. The commissioners should rethink there plan to outsource this service as a longer term plan. We have seen how privatisiing public sector services has a significant impact on efficiency and effectiveness.
Guest#10 Jan 06, 2014, 09:49
Evidence shows outsourcing leads to poorer services. There are alternatives. Have a look at them ather than make a lazy decision.
Guest#11 Jan 07, 2014, 15:52
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10906120.Scheme_sees_dying_wishes_honoured_for_Brighton_and_Hove_terminally_ill/
please see this link as this depicts why this service needs to stay in house. This service plays a vital role in support for our Brighton and Hove residents to achieve their goal of independence and right to their place of care during their last few days.
please see this link as this depicts why this service needs to stay in house. This service plays a vital role in support for our Brighton and Hove residents to achieve their goal of independence and right to their place of care during their last few days.
Guest#12 Jan 08, 2014, 17:17
I have worked for the equipment service since it started, then it was run by Brighton Health Authority, that was 27 years ago, and have seen the service grow and become a very well run and important part of community health care for the people of Brighton and Hove.. All of us in ICES take pride in our work and in the service we provide to our clients.
Privatising parts of the NHS is not the way forward.
Privatising parts of the NHS is not the way forward.
Guest#13 Jan 09, 2014, 14:23
Please follow good sense and refuse to outsource a service which is working sustainably.
Guest#14 Jan 09, 2014, 22:34
This service is invaluable. When speaking to many people with regards to the proposals it is amazing how many people have used the service of ICES or who know someone who has. Keep it personal, keep it local. It is a fantastic asset within the Brighton and Hove Community that can only thrive if convenient to the people who use it.
Guest#15 Jan 09, 2014, 22:46
I have worked for ICES for a year and am so passionate about the service we offer. I have never worked anywhere like it and love my job. The positive feedback from clients is unlike anything I have ever encountered. In conclusion making a profit from the users of the service including disabled and vulnerable clients is morally and ethically wrong.
Guest#16 Jan 11, 2014, 12:11
I am a wheelchair user and have been relying on ICES for over ten years. The things they have helped me with during this time have made a massive difference to the quality of my life. ICES have always been speedy when it comes to repairs and they've never left me struggling, usually coming to see me the day I've called them. Outsourcing this vital service to a private company would slow down this process as I would be required to contact an OT to request equipment repair rather than speaking to ICES directly. This puts me at a greater risk of being in a position where I must use equipment that is unsafe. I cannot stress enough how much I do not want this proposal to go ahead.
Guest#17 Jan 11, 2014, 12:26
ICES is a service that is too important to so many people's everyday lives to allow profit making companies to gamble with it. The arguments for outsourcing these vital services, that it will be run 'more efficiently' so service users get 'better value for money' are absurd; the service will inevitably decline as the company looks for ways to cut spending. For example, highly experienced staff will likely be replaced with less experienced, lower paid workers and the service will lose the expertise that is so valued by its users.
People must be put before profit, and if this proposal goes through then this will certainly not be the case.
People must be put before profit, and if this proposal goes through then this will certainly not be the case.
Guest#18 Jan 11, 2014, 12:39
I'm 75 and on three days a week I commute from London to help my severely disabled daughter in Hove. Without the prompt (within 24 hours), knowledgeable assistance of ICES dedicated staff and their versatile stock of equipment and parts my daughter's and my life would be even more difficult. For ten years she and her carers have continued to depend entirely on ICES know-how and their speed of repairs, which past experience has shown does not happen with outsourced private companies (7 days to arrange a visit if you're lucky - then you're faced with a man with a hammer who doesn't know the equipment). Please don't increase the cost in very real terms to vulnerable people in Brighton and Hove by reducing the help they depend on and removing ICES from their lives.
Guest#19 Jan 13, 2014, 07:03
This is the wrong move to take as it fragments the town affected.It goes against the philosophy of a big society.How can a society function with its own needs if for example a supply of stock is miles away. It is not in our interest to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Guest#20 Jan 13, 2014, 12:18
An excellent service that provides a fast, effcicient service that is able to be flexible to meet the demands of fast pace , often complex, hospital discharges. I currently work with 3 equipment services , the other 2 have been out sourced and are not able to respond to patient need as effectively
Guest#21 Jan 16, 2014, 17:49
I work as a health care assistant in the community and realise how important it is for people to have a reliable service such as Ices. The equipment that is provided for and used by my clients is vital for their independents and dignity. Not every thing should be scrutinised to the bottom line. People and their needs are far more important than saving a few pounds.
Guest#22 Aug 05, 2014, 20:21
I have worked in a part of the county using an out- sourced equipment service. I cannot stress enough what a fantastic resource ICES is. The outsourced company is a business first & foremost & is run as such. Anyone used to ICES would be horrified by the alternative.
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