Healthwatch is here to stay!
The Department of Health and Social Care has said the Health Bill clauses relating to the abolition of both are to be withdrawn, and that Healthwatch will be retained and strengthened.
It is a welcome end to well over a year of uncertainty. Under the earlier plans, Healthwatch England and 153 local groups would have been absorbed into integrated care boards and local authorities. For staff and volunteers across the country, that meant not knowing what the future held.
Throughout that time, Healthwatch Nottingham and Nottinghamshire carried on. We kept listening to local people, helping residents find their way through services, and sharing what we heard with the people who plan and run care across our area. We also believed in patient voice so strongly that we developed our charity, taking on a new identity as Community Voices Matter, so that we could keep championing community voices whatever came next.
We were not alone. The decision follows an outcry from MPs across the political spectrum. Across the county, people wrote, campaigned and lobbied to protect an independent voice, and we are grateful to every one of them.
Our Chair, said:
“Finally, sense has prevailed and the plans to abolish Healthwatch across England are being scrapped! Patient and social care user voice is to be strengthened following today’s announcement.
I am beyond thrilled and extremely humbled by the level of support we have received for our work in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, and to everyone who has campaigned and lobbied against the erosion of independent voice
I look forward to learning how the Government intends to strengthen our voice and influence within the health and care system.”
So, what happens next? Community Voices Matter will continue to deliver the Healthwatch service in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, and nothing changes for you. We will keep listening to people’s experiences of health and social care, and we will share more once the detail of the Government’s plans to strengthen Healthwatch is published.
