Healthwatch Isle of Wight A strong voice for local people on health and social care issues. We want to build an organisation that people value and use. Tell us your views. June 2012 1 Introduction What is Healthwatch and why do we want to involve you in its development? In March 2012, the government introduced a new law (the Health & Social Care Act 2012) requiring each local authority area to set up a new organisation called Healthwatch by April 2013. Healthwatch will help provide information and advice to Islanders about health and social care services, direct people to services (so they understand the choice of care available) and involve people in improving and shaping the services on which they rely. It will continue many of the roles formerly carried out both by the Local Involvement Network (LINk) which ceases to exist on 31 March next year and, before that, the Island’s community health council. Healthwatch will effectively act as a ‘consumer champion’, making the views and experiences of the local community known to the people making decisions about these services, both locally and nationally. The Isle of Wight Council is required to make sure it has a local Healthwatch organisation in place by April 2013 and we will receive funding from the government to enable us to do that. Some of the functions and roles that Healthwatch will need to perform have been set out in law but the government has also said that it wants local authorities to be able to make some of its own choices about how local Healthwatch is set up so the new organisation meets the Island’s particular needs.. Before we start looking for someone to set up local Healthwatch we want to get your views on how we can make sure the organisation is something that people on the Island both want to use and value. This document explains what Healthwatch Isle of Wight must do and invites your suggestions as to how this important organisation should be developed. Isle of Wight Council Healthwatch Consultation Page 2 2 Why do we need Healthwatch? Many changes are being made to the way health and social care services are being provided both locally and nationally. The government wants the public to have information, advice and support so people can choose and access health and social care services. It is also keen that people have the means and opportunity to make their views, experiences and concerns about these services known so that they can influence how services are developed and improved at both a local and national level. In summary, it wants to create a “strong voice for local people”. “Our plans for Healthwatch will provide people with a single point of contact. They can put people in touch with the right advocacy organisation, or help them find information about the choices they have; they can support people to speak out and they can give those who want to get more involved, the opportunity to do so.” Lord Howe, Healthwatch Transition Plan, March 2011. The government has recognised that there have been a number of different arrangements over recent years for involving people and giving them a voice in publicly funded health and social care services. However these have, to varying degrees, all encountered problems. In some areas for example, people simply weren’t aware of these organisations, in others they have failed to involve all sections of the communities while others have struggled to be an effective voice for the community. The government hopes to learn from the past, build on what has worked well and address many of these shortcomings to ensure Healthwatch can be a success. As a first step, in October this year, the government will set up Healthwatch England which will work at a national level. This will be a statutory committee of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - the organisation that checks whether hospitals and healthcare services, dental and GP practices, care homes and care services are meeting government standards. It will work to ensure the views and experiences of people who use health and social care services across the country are able to influence national policy, advice and guidance. It will do this by gathering much of its information from local Healthwatch organisations across the country, meaning that your voice, through Healthwatch Isle of Wight, will potentially be able to shape national decisions about health and care service policies, plans and regulations. Isle of Wight Council Healthwatch Consultation Page 3 3 Our vision for Healthwatch Isle of Wight and what it might achieve? Our vision is that Healthwatch Isle of Wight will become the organisation that involves Islanders in local and national health and social care issues. It will become the single point of contact for anyone in the Island community who needs information and advice about health and social care services, including children and young people. It will also help individuals to help themselves and, where they need additional help, to understand and make use of the increased choices of support available. Our vision is that this will become a strong, recognised, trusted and credible organisation. An organisation that anyone in the community can feel confident approaching to share their views, concerns and both positive and negative experiences, knowing that the organisation will actively help to those who make decisions about health and social care services aware of their views. We want Healthwatch to demonstrate to people that, by speaking up, they can make a difference. Our vision is that on occasions when things go wrong, that people who need extra support to make their complaint known, receive that help and that their voice is heard and acted upon. We want Healthwatch Isle of Wight to build strong relationships with other organisations and networks on the Island to avoid duplicating services, make the most of expertise already available in our voluntary, public and private sectors and of the valued but limited time of volunteers in our community. Healthwatch Isle of Wight must make a valued contribution, based on local knowledge to helping those making decisions about commissioning and providing health and social care services better understand the needs of the community, and help shape priorities and strategies to meet these needs. The ultimate test for Healthwatch, over time, will be whether people know it exists, understand what it does, know how to use it and have confidence it will make sure that their voices are heard and represented. We’re interested in your views about: • The vision – have we got it right? Is anything missing? • Will it meet local needs? And if not, what would you like to see Healthwatch achieving? • Is it something you would value and use? Or even want to be a part of? Isle of Wight Council Healthwatch Consultation Page 4 4 What will Healthwatch Isle of Wight do? The government has set out some clear roles and functions that Healthwatch Isle of Wight will legally need to provide (More information about these functions can also be found in appendices 1-3 at the end of this document): i) Information, advice and signposting, helping you make choices • Be a single point of contact to provide information and advice to any individual member of the public about accessing health and social care services • Enable people to take more control over their own health, treatment and care by helping them to understand, and make use of, increased choices available to them ii) Involve the whole community in helping to improve, influence and shape health and social care services for local people • Gather evidence, views and experiences of local people and make these known to Healthwatch England, helping it to carry out its role • Be able to enter and view premises where health and social care services are provided and report on its findings and make recommendations to Healthwatch England to advise the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to carry out special reviews or investigations into areas of concern (Healthwatch Isle of Wight can also go directly to CQC if they have an urgent concern) • Promote and support the involvement of people in the monitoring, commissioning and provision of local health and care services • Obtain the views of people about their needs for and experiences of local health and social care services and make those views known to those involved in commissioning, providing and scrutinising these services locally. Healthwatch will be duty bound to be widely representative of the whole community including children and young people and those not always heard • Make reports and recommendations about how those services could or should be improved and attend meetings of the Isle of Wight Health & Wellbeing Board to represent the voice of the community to inform strategic decisions being made about health and social care services for the Isle of Wight iii) Support people who need help to make a complaint about NHS services* • Provide, or at the very least, signpost people to advocacy support services for people who wish to complain about NHS services and need some help to do so. By advocacy we mean support to take action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain services they need. *This is specifically for complaints against NHS services which are currently provided through a central government contract and transfers to the responsibility of local authorities from April 2013. Advocacy support to make complaints about social care services is already carried out through independent local advocacy organisations via the local authority. Isle of Wight Council Healthwatch Consultation Page 5 5 How will Healthwatch Isle of Wight carry out these functions? During this summer, the Isle of Wight Council will begin to find an organisation that will take on the responsibilities and functions of local Healthwatch for the Island.