To receive a presentation on the subject of Healthwatch Worcestershire.
(Presentation to follow)
Minutes:
Members welcomed Peter Pinfield, Chairman, and Simon Adams, Chief Operating Officer, from Healthwatch Worcestershire. They had been invited by the Committee to deliver presentations on the subject of the new body and the implications for the Borough. (Attached at Appendix A and Appendix B).
Their presentations included the following main points:
· Healthwatch Worcestershire had been established to act as the independent champion for all consumers of publicly funded health and social care services in the county.
· The new body had been operating for approximately eight weeks, therefore many of its systems and processes were still being established.
· District authorities had an important role to play in ensuring that the concerns of all local residents regarding health and social care were not only heard, but appropriately acted upon. This included addressing the concerns of children and young people.
· It was the intention of Healthwatch Worcestershire to resolve all matters locally, although it would be able to refer matters upwards to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if necessary.
· Healthwatch Worcestershire was looking to recruit a number of volunteers who could help support the work of its four paid staff members.
· It was essential for Healthwatch Worcestershire to become and to be seen as truly independent. Additional values of the body included: being transparent; balanced and fair; and working in partnership with others.
· Healthwatch Worcestershire was very keen to work in partnership with the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the county on specific projects.
Following the presentations, Members discussed Healthwatch Worcestershire in further detail. In particular, there was some concern that Redditch did not appear to be represented geographically by any single Board member. However, the Committee heard that Healthwatch Worcestershire was looking to recruit a number of non-executive directors through local media and the free press, ideally from geographical areas that were not currently represented on the Board.
Members were advised that Healthwatch Worcestershire was not responsible for handling individual complaints about quality of care. However, Healthwatch Worcestershire could refer complaints onto the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service.
Healthwatch Worcestershire was familiar with the health inequalities that had been identified as a specific problem impacting on Redditch in the 2010 Comprehensive Area Assessment. The Healthwatch Worcestshire team were also aware that residents living in areas of highest need, such as Winyates, might have specific health needs. Members were advised that Healthwatch Worcestershire was aiming to work with partner organisations to address these issues.
The Committee was advised that they could support Healthwatch Worcestershire. In particular, Members were asked to share their ‘soft intelligence’ of local communities so that Healthwatch Worcestershire could obtain an accurate picture of what health and social care issues needed to be addressed in each area.
Members strongly encouraged Healthwatch Worcestershire to work with minority groups and communities to address their needs. There was some concern that these groups were currently not engaged effectively over health and social care issues.
It was clarified that Healthwatch Worcestershire was not responsible for the joint service review of acute services in Worcestershire. In addition, Healthwatch Worcestershire was not allowed to campaign on political issues. However, the Worcestershire Joint Services Review was not considered to be political and Healthwatch Worcestershire could make sure that the decision making process for this review remained open and transparent.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked Peter Pinfield and Simon Adams for accepting the invitation to meet with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
RECOMMENDED that
that the Borough Council make representations to Healthwatch Worcestershire on behalf of local residents;
RESOLVED that
1) that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee receives ongoing updates from Healthwatch Worcestershire; and
2) the report be noted.