Healthwatch Leicester & Healthwatch Leicestershire

Presentation Background Overview What Healthwatch will do From LINks to Healthwatch Developing Healthwatch Healthwatch functions Next steps

Health and Social Care Act 2012 – established local Healthwatch and Healthwatch England Local Healthwatch - will replace Local Involvement Networks (LINks) Healthwatch – consumer champion across health and social care Healthwatch England (HWE) – started on 1 October 2012 Local Healthwatch – will start on 1 April 2013 Background to Healthwatch

What will Healthwatch do? Independent consumer champion for the public to promote better outcomes in health and social care Work with children, young people, adults and older people A number of functions: Information and signposting Gathering and reporting views of local people Promote involvement of people in monitoring, commissioning, provision Enter and view Make recommendations Seat on the Health and Wellbeing Board

5 From LINKs to Local Healthwatch Continuity of existing arrangements… local authorities will have duty to deliver Local Healthwatch funding for new functions What will be different… move from influence to decision-making through a seat on health and wellbeing board help individuals to understand and represent community views not only will views and experiences count locally – they will be used nationally by Secretary of State, Monitor, NHS Commissioning Board as well as Care Quality Commission (CQC) Local HealthWatch can employ its own staff

6 Healthwatch England will be a new independent consumer champion for patients, users of services and the public located in the Care Quality Commission It will have a unique role, where it will be constituted as a committee within CQC have a Chair who will be a non-executive director of CQC have its own identity within CQC be able to utilise CQC ’ s expertise and infrastructure Healthwatch England

What will local Healthwatch look like? Local Healthwatch will be: Corporate, non-statutory body, carrying out statutory functions Able to employ staff and manage a budget Able to contract out some functions, whilst retaining responsibility Independent body Representative of communities and accountable to communities Rooted in experience and able to harness expertise Role on the Statutory Health and Wellbeing Board Supported by HWE, but independent from HWE Part of a national brand

Consumer champion Local Healthwatch is the new, independent, consumer champion for health, public health, and social care in Leicester and Leicestershire Our job is to represent every resident in Leicester and Leicestershire who wants to have a voice on the services that are available We will provide evidence based influence to improve services and health and wellbeing across the City and County Healthwatch will help people to find information about local health and care services

Spotlight on health and social care Working with individuals and other organisations Building an evidence base Enter & View

Our main functions Helping service users and communities Helping those who commission and deliver services Helping providers

Giving everyone a voice We will promote patient involvement and choice, and point people in the right direction when something goes wrong We will also have a role to ensure that the needs of all communities can access the care and services that they need Healthwatch is committed to representing the views of all Leicester and Leicestershire’s citizens

Working together Healthwatch will work with voluntary and community sector organisations to ensure the voices of service users and communities are heard and represented We will involve current LINk members and groups to gather evidence and reflect community and user needs We will use evidence and local knowledge to focus on important issues and determine our priorities

Legacy of LINk by end March 2013 HW Transition Board - up to September 2013 Staffing – in place by end May 2013 Website – April 2013 PR and Communications Engagement activities And lots more … Next steps

Governance: What skills and knowledge do the transitional leadership groups require? Which stakeholder organisations should be invited? Projects: What are the key issues / inequalities that need to be addressed? What evidence already exists? Representation Who are the key partners that Healthwatch needs to engage / work with over year 1? Key Issues