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Healthwatch

Government Policy - A new Direction

The Government's health and social care reforms are centred on the fundamental principle that patients and the public must be at the heart of everything our health and care services do.

As part of this intent the Health and Social care Bill currently going through parliament has provision in it for the establishment of HealthWatch.

Subject to Parliamentary approval both Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch will be introduced from April 2013.

Healthwatch is being described as an evolution from the existing Local Involvement Networks. Healthwatch will give people real influence over decisions made about local services; it will support individuals as well as engaging communities; and Healthwatch England will ensure that consumer voice has influence not only locally but nationally too.

The Government has acknowledged that there have been a number of different arrangements for involving people in health and social care over recent years and has expressed an intention to build on what is working well but also establish new structures that will bring even greater benefits.

What is Healthwatch?

Healthwatch will be the health and social care consumer champion. Its role is to champion the views and experiences of patients, people using services, carers and the wider public.

There are 2 elements

Healthwatch England: A national body operating within the care quality commission providing leadership to local Healthwatch and advising the NHS commissioning Board.
Local Healthwatch: Acting as consumer champion for local people regarding health and social care services.

What will Local Healthwatch do?

Local Healthwatch has 3 principle responsibilities:

Influencing - local Healthwatch will present the views and experiences of local service users to local budget managers and decision makers (as well as to Healthwatch England at the national level) and be part of prioritising conversation on the local health and wellbeing board, and also hold local service-providers to account.

Signposting - providing information to service users to access health and social care services and promoting choice.

Advising - provide advocacy and support to people and help them to make choices about services

Healthwatch is different from Link.

Healthwatch will need to do all that Link currently does and has the same powers that Link currently enjoy. It also has new duties to provide information and support people in choice. HealthWatch will also have a seat on the new Health and Wellbeing Boards and will operate as a Health and Wellbeing Board member.

How will Healthwatch be established?

The Local Authority has the duty to commission Healthwatch and can decide on the best arrangements for doing so.

The Royal Borough has developed a Healthwatch Project Group that includes members from the LINk, the NHS, the GP Clinical Commissioning Group, Children's services, the Older Persons Advisory Services, ICAS (Independent Advocacy Complaints Service) and the local Health Panel.

The project group is working hard to identify what our local Healthwatch should look like and what work it will undertake.

It is the intention to tender for the provision of Healthwatch in RBWM. A service specification will be developed in the coming months and will be published.

Healthwatch will:

Operate as a community network bringing together the existing infrastructure of engagement and support in the Borough
Extend methods of engagement and communication to be inclusive and accessible to all groups e.g. adults, children, minorities
Work alongside partners on a common agenda of priorities
Work within a triangle of activity and influence between commissioners, Overview and Scrutiny and the HealthWatch community

Understanding what you want from Healthwatch in RBWM…

To help us understand what you want from a Local Healthwatch, please consider the following questions:

Q 1 - What does a good health and social care 'consumer advice service' look like?

Q 2 - How can we ensure everyone can access Local Healthwatch in ways that suit them?

Q 3 - How can we ensure Local Healthwatch is able to represent the views of everyone?

Q 4 - How can we ensure Local Healthwatch can influence the people and organisations that make decisions about health and social care services?

Please send your response to Michaela Helman by email at wamlinks@hotmail.com or in writing to WAM LINks Support Officer, Windsor & Maidenhead Voluntary Action, 67 St. Leonard's Road, Windsor, SL4 3BX

If you would like to become a member of the LINk and the future Healthwatch organisation, contact Michaela.