Agenda item

To receive the Healthwatch Annual Report.

Presented by Anne-Marie Dean.

The Chairman of Havering Healthwatch presented the report with attached appendices on the development and progress to date of Healthwatch during its first operational year - 2013/2014. The report was not, as itemised on the Agenda, the Annual Report which would be available later in the year. 

Healthwatch Havering was formed in April 2013 as part of Healthwatch England whose Chairman is a member of the CQC Board. The Health and Social Care Act formalised the relationship between Healthwatch England, the Secretary of State, NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Monitor and English local authorities. Havering Healthwatch became the local independent consumer champion for health and care.

Healthwatch was a new national concept with direct aims and objectives from Healthwatch England and that these aims and ways of working would be translated into local practice.

Healthwatch currently had three employees with the remainder the team being staffed by volunteers.  Healthwatch was created as a private company with a Board consisting of a Chairman, Company Secretary, Director and General Manager. All these individuals had previous experience in Board and operational management in health, local government, independent contractors to the NHS and the voluntary sector. The team of volunteers also come from a very diverse background bringing much knowledge and experience. The organisation consisted of the Lead Members, Active Members and Support Members who provide intelligence.

All the Healthwatch Team were trained to the same standard and all lead and active members received a dedicated training programme. A volunteer’s handbook has also been developed specifically to support these roles. 

The governance structure and arrangements were formally published at the public launch in August 2013 and these were reviewed and updated by the Board in January 2014.

Healthwatch hold monthly Board meetings which are open to members of the public. Healthwatch is an open and transparent organisation and that all reports, public consultations and evidence collected at public forums are published on the website. There was also an open and transparent structure for making decisions thus enabling the volunteer members to influence and determine work prioritisation.

The Chairman acknowledged that the volunteers working for Healthwatch was their greatest asset and commended their dedication and commitment to wanting to make a difference within their local community. 

Havering Healthwatch had recently been commended by the CQC as being one of the most advanced and developed.

During 2013/2014 Healthwatch Havering ran 6 public events and these were as follows:

·        1 event on intermediate care teams ( in collaboration with the CCG)

·                5 cross Borough events ‘Have your Say with Healthwatch Havering’ on Learning Disabilities and Dementia

Over the last few months, Healthwatch had focused especially on dementia and adult care homes. During this period, given their statutory right to inspect non NHS establishments (Powers to Enter and View), Healthwatch had inspected 5 care homes in the borough and planned to inspect a further 15 before September 2014. It was noted that three reasons are required to validate an inspection and that all care homes visited were given the opportunity to read the inspection reports prior to publishing. All inspection reports were forwarded to the CQC.

In addition, Healthwatch also received and dealt with individual concerns from members of the public about local health services as noted in the Hospital Team Log (Appendix 1).  Healthwatch also attended and worked with a number of organisations both within the borough and across London (Appendix 2).

The Chairman stated that during the 2014/2015 period, Healthwatch would be focusing on the following key priorities:

·                     End of Life Care

·                     Frail and Elderly Care within the Emergency department

·                     Access to Primary Care

·                     Access to Health checks and immunisation

·                     Continue the programme of Care Home visits

·                     To identify a project working with Young People

Future programmes of work would also include work streams on Hospital Services, Social Care, Learning Disabilities and Primary Care. There were  also plans to focus on mental health/NELFT service provision in the autumn.

The Chairman thanked all colleagues in health and social care who had supported Healthwatch in the first year.

The Board noted the report and commended the Chairman on achievements thus far and on the clarity of the future action plan.