Healthwatch Oldham Important Announcement
Last weekend, national media outlets including the BBC and the Daily Mail reported that the Government’s forthcoming ten-year health plan will see the closure of Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch across the country.
Healthwatch was established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and is responsible for gathering patient feedback on health and social care, sharing those views with decision-makers to shape the future delivery of local services. Healthwatch Oldham is part of a regional network of ten local teams across Greater Manchester, and a national network of 150 local teams across the country.
Currently, it appears that with the closure of Healthwatch England, their statutory function will transfer to the Department of Health and Social Care whilst the local Healthwatch statutory function will transfer to the Integrated Care Board and the Local Authority. There are, however, no clear plans for how and when this will take place but, from what we understand, these proposals will not be implemented immediately. So, for now, we urge Oldham residents to read the upcoming Dash Report and the Government’s ten-year plan (published today) to understand what comes next for how patient and community voices are heard within NHS and social care.
Jacquie Wood, Chair of our Advisory Board said:
"The Board, staff and volunteers of Healthwatch Oldham were disappointed to hear of the decision to disestablish Healthwatch and particularly about the decision to release this information through the media before informing the people who work in these organisations. We believe that the voices of local people are important and need to be sought and heard through an effective and independent means. We look forward to hearing about how this will work in the future. It may be some time before the plans are implemented and so, for the present we will continue to work hard to represent the views of Oldham people about health and care services and to report on key findings"
For now, Healthwatch Oldham are still here to listen to your experience of health and care services, help you navigate the healthcare challenges you face, and influence positive change wherever we can. You can contact us at info@healthwatcholdham.co.uk / 0161 622 5700.
We will provide an additional update as soon as it is available to us.
