Transcript Medway Local Healthwatch
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Medway Local Healthwatch Councillor David Brake
Portfolio holder Adults services
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Healthwatch
• Healthwatch is a new independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public.
• Healthwatch will play a role at both national and local level and will make sure that the views of the public and people who use services are taken into account.
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Local Healthwatch
Will be established in April 2013 Seat on the Health and Well-being board It will cover 3 functions 1)
Citizen Engagement
- the role previously performed by Local Involvement Networks (LINks) 2)
Information and Signposting
supporting individuals to choose how their specific health and social care needs are met 3)
NHS Complaints Advocacy
Service for when things go wrong
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Local Healthwatch
cont The key requirements are: • local Healthwatch organisations must be corporate bodies carrying out statutory functions, but does not need to be a statutory body, • they must be ‘not-for-profit’ organisation(s); • local Healthwatch must be able to employ staff and (if they choose) be able to sub contract statutory functions.
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Local Healthwatch will?
LHW will need to be accountable in a number of different ways: • To the Medway community it serves and represents • To Healthwatch England which will set standards • To Medway Council commissioning Healthwatch services
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Healthwatch England
Healthwatch England will be a established in October 2012,and will statutory, distinctive part of the Care Quality Commission. It will: • provide leadership, advice and support to Local Healthwatch • provide advice to the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and the Secretary of State • have powers to propose a CQC investigation of poor services
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Medway Local Healthwatch
• Healthwatch development group • Establishment of a Healthwatch Page on the Council website to keep the community up to date on the developments of healthwatch www.medway.gov.uk/medwayhealthwatch • Healthwatch email address for the public to contact the council, [email protected]
• A short article on Healthwatch will go out in Medway Matters June edition.
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Medway Local Healthwatch Consultation events
• LINks workshop • Market development workshop • Young Inspectors • Medway Youth Parliament • Skills and competencies of local health watch • Hard to reach communities - ongoing
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Funding for Local Healthwatch
DH will allocate funding directly to the Local Authority. (This funding will not be ring-fenced.) • Current LINk funding • Patient Advisory Liaison Service (PALS) • Independent Complaints Advocacy service ( ICAS)
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Designing the new organisation
• Working with Centre for Public scrutiny on a community report • Market development workshop discussing what would work best for the Medway Healthwatch Key messages: • Strong and clear governance is essential to enable Medway Local Healthwatch to fulfil its functions successfully • Volunteers need to be valued and supported to enable them to contribute to Local Healthwatch • It is important to focus on both health and social care
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