Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
A group representing local councils in England and Wales has expressed strong concerns over plans to abolish Healthwatch, the independent organisation that advocates for patients’ experiences within health and social care services. The Local Government Association (LGA) argues that removing Healthwatch would result in the NHS effectively overseeing its own performance without external critique, describing the situation as the service “marking their own homework.”
Healthwatch serves as an independent voice that gathers and represents patients’ views on their local healthcare and social care providers, aiming to improve service quality. The LGA warns that dismantling the body risks creating a fragmented accountability system, which could weaken oversight of health and care providers. The association is also worried by the government’s failure to present a clear alternative to Healthwatch’s role in challenging providers when concerns are raised by patients or the public.
The government maintains that the planned changes, part of a broader effort to centralise health and social care management under the Department for Health and Social Care, will amplify patient input by simplifying the system and bringing decision-making closer to the people affected. These reforms are included in the NHS Modernisation Bill currently under parliamentary consideration, with its second reading scheduled for 1 June. Healthwatch’s duties are proposed to be transferred to integrated care boards and local authorities, which would then be responsible for addressing feedback about their own services rather than being held accountable by an independent body.
Councillor Dr Wendy Taylor MBE, chair of the LGA’s health and wellbeing committee, expressed apprehension that this shift could lead to a “fragmented approach” and deepen the divide between health and social care, urging the government to collaborate with local councils to formulate a clear and effective system that preserves independence. At present, Healthwatch employs more than 500 staff and relies on around 4,000 volunteers across more than 150 local offices in England, with responsibilities that include influencing local health and wellbeing boards, advising the public on access to services, and collaborating with the Care Quality Commission on investigations. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care described the abolition of Healthwatch England as a move to “simplify the patient safety landscape” and emphasized that the reforms would provide patients with a “stronger, clearer voice at the heart of health and social care.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.