Healthwatch
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the independent patient and public scrutiny of NHS and social care services following the proposed abolition of local Healthwatch organisations under the Health Bill.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The aim of our patient and public voice reforms is not to maintain the current independent structures, but to strengthen the patient and public’s voice so it drives real change and improvement to services at all levels of the health and social care system.
We are doing this by bringing patient and public voices closer to decision-makers, rather than by keeping it at arms-length, so what people say cannot be ignored, but instead has a more direct, meaningful, impact on services.
At a local level, we are placing responsibility for listening to patients and the public with the organisations that plan and deliver services, local authorities for social care, and integrated care boards for healthcare.
Integrated care boards and local authorities will need to demonstrate robust, inclusive engagement, especially with seldom-heard groups, and clear routes for people to raise concerns.
At the national level, we are bringing patient voices into the Department through a new Patient Experience Directorate, where it can drive real change.
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