As part of the Health and Social Care Bill, the Government announced its intention to implement a network of organisations called local HealthWatch from October 2012 (now revised to April 2013). HealthWatch will replace the existing Local Improvement Networks or LINks as they are known.
As initially set out o the Governments White Paper Local HealthWatch will
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Be the independent customer champion for the public, locally to promote better outcomes in health for all and in social care for adults.
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Provide intelligence to influence policy, planning, commissioning and delivery of health and social care services.
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Provide information and advice to help people access and make choices about services.
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Help people access independent complaints advocacy to support people if they need help to complain about NHS services.
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Have credibility and public trust through being responsive and acting on concerns when things go wrong and operating effectively and efficiently.
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Be statutory organisations (i.e. established by law).
Local HealthWatch organisations will be funded by the Department of Health via the local authority and will be accountable for operating effectively and providing value for money.
A representative of the local HealthWatch organisation will sit on the local health and wellbeing board – this will ensure the public and patient voice is part of strategic decision-making across local NHS services, adult social care and health improvement.
HealthWatchEngland and Local HealthWatch organisations would also be able to make recommendations to the Care Quality Commission to carry out investigations if they feel it appropriate.
An addition, HealthWatchEngland, will give patients and the public a voice at a national level and provide leadership, advice and support to local HealthWatch organisations, reducing variation across the country.
This webpage contains information on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Councils plans and progress in preparing for the commissioning of our Local HealthWatch.
Local Progress to date
Latest Developments appear first ….
22nd May - Expressions of interest
The council will be seeking expressions of interest from parties interested in forming a new corporate body to take on the role and responsibilities of the local HealthWatch in Dudley. Further information to inform expressions of interest will be available from the 22nd May. Enquires should be addressed via email to healthwatch@dudley.gov.uk.
27th March 2012 - Health and Social Care Bill gains royal assent
On March 27 the Health and Social Care Bill gained Royal Assent to become the Health and Social Care Act (2012).
This will mean strengthened local democratic involvement in Health and Social Care and there will be at least one locally elected councillor and a representative of Healthwatch on every Health and Wellbeing Board, to influence and challenge commissioning decisions and promote integrated health and care.
The implementation of the Act enables the Council to carry on working its communities to shape Local HealthWatch and ensure it is operational by April 1 2013.
To read more about the Health and Social Care Act (2012) please visit the bills and legislation section of the parliament site.
2nd March 2012 - Government Amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill on local Healthwatch (organisational form)
Please see related documents below to view the letter.
26th January 2012 - Department of Health Announced HealthWatch England Membership Consultation
The Department of Health has published its consultation on the membership of HealthWatch England.
The consultation asks questions on key issues in relation to the membership of HealthWatch England that the Department has heard from stakeholders.
These issues include:
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the number of the members
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suitability for membership
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the process for appointing members
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the period of time a member should be appointed.
The Consultation on the regulations for HealthWatch England Membership is intended to ensure that the public have a strong national presence to represent their views and help drive up improvements across the NHS.
The consultation document and further guidance can be found on the Department of Health website here
Consultation on the regulations for HealthWatch England Membership
The deadline for comments is Friday 2 March.
19th January 2012 – 2nd HealthWatch Reference Group Meeting Scheduled
Following the success of the previous Reference Group meeting, held on the 22nd of November 2011, we are now in the process of scheduling dates for the 2nd and 3rd meetings.
Existing reference group members should have by now received a list of potential dates by post or by email.
Anyone interested in attending who is not on the current membership should contact healthwatch@dudley.gov.uk or call 01384 816955
17th January 2012 – Local Government Association (LGA) / Department of Health - HealthWatch Implementation Programme: Offer of Support to Local Authorities
The LGA, in conjunction with the Department of Health, have released details of a new HealthWatch implementation programme.
As part of this programme, the Department of Health is sponsoring the Local Government Association (offering LA leadership), Regional Voices (providing the learning and acting as the ‘spine’ that brings this together), and the NHS Institute (methodologies in accelerated learning), to support local authorities and their delivery partners to continue to develop local HealthWatch.
The programme is intended to encourage an incremental approach to developing local HealthWatch and has been designed in response to feedback received from local government colleagues and other stakeholders over recent months.
For more information please see a copy of the letter from the LGA below.
3rd January 2012 - Andrew Lansley announces delayed starting date for HealthWatch
On the 3rd of January 2012, David Behan, Director General for Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships at the Department of Health wrote to all Local Authority Chief Executives Leaders of Local Authorities and Directors of Children's and Adult Social Services to provide further details on a statement made by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley.
In this statement the Secretary of State had announced the start date for Local HealthWatch be revised to April 2013 and that additional funding was to be found for both HealthWatch Pathfinders and Local HealthWatch organisations in place from April 2013.
A copy of David Behan’s letter can be found below or for more information please see the Department of Health website.
22nd November 2011 - Inaugural HealthWatch Reference Group Meeting
On the 22nd November 2011 we held the first of a series of HealthWatch Reference Group Meetings at Wrens Nest Community Centre. The meeting was extremely well attended by a wide range of stakeholders.
A feedback document detailing the key points from the meeting can be found below.
Further meetings will be scheduled in due course and existing members will be contacted by post or by email.
7th July 2011 - Stakeholder Event - 7th July 2011
On the 7th of July 2011 we held a Stakeholder Event in the Great Hall at DudleyCollege, on the Broadway Dudley. We were delighted that 79 people took time out to come and share their views on how a HealthWatch in Dudley could look and how it should work.
For a summary of the comments please access a copy of the Stakeholder Feedback below.
We thank everyone for their valuable input and hope that this is just the start of working together to develop a successful and effective HealthWatch in Dudley.
A number of attendees signalled their commitment to having further involvement in developing HealthWatch. We are currently in the process of setting up a reference group to look at our plans and thinking behind HealthWatch in the Borough.
If you would like to be involved please contact Aaron Sangian on 01384 814757 or email aaron.sangian@dudley.gov.uk
Please revisit this page periodically to find out the latest developments on HealthWatch in Dudley.
For the latest information on HealthWatch please see the Department of Health’s HealthWatch Transition Plan or visit the Department of Health website to access pages relating to HealthWatch.
Links
Care Quality Commission
Department of Health
