Agenda item

Select Committee members are asked to consider the information presented within the report and note the key issues described.

Alex Francis, Healthwatch B&NES addressed the Select Committee. A copy of the update can be found on their Minute Book and as an online appendix to these minutes, a summary of the update is set out below.

NHS long-term plan

At the national Healthwatch conference in October 2018 Sir Robert Francis QC, Healthwatch England Chair, announced that funding from NHS England would be made available to Local Healthwatch to support public engagement around the NHS long-term plan.

Healthwatch B&NES has expressed an interest in supporting this work locally and aims to work with STP partners to enable public conversation around the next 10 years of NHS provision.

This work, which is still very much in its infancy, will be carried out in conjunction with Local Healthwatch in Swindon and Wiltshire and is due to be completed by summer 2019.

Healthwatch B&NES Community pot 2018-19

In October 2018 we launched our first ever ‘community pot’, a small grants scheme which offers community-based organisations and groups operating in B&NES the opportunity to receive a one-off grant ranging from £500 to £5,000. This funding will be used to carry out engagement and/or research projects that explore people’s experiences of using local health and social care services, particularly those groups or communities who are seldom heard.

In early December, the Healthwatch B&NES Executive Board met to review the applications and decide which projects would be funded. In the end we were delighted to be able to fund five applicants who are going to carry out a fascinating range of projects as follows:

·  Children aged 16 and under - Their feelings and emotions in relation to their mental health.

·  Empower carers to identify the issues that affect them in their caring roles

·  Research project to explore the experiences of residents who have suffered a bereavement in care homes

·  Understand the impacts of rural isolation on young people aged 10 – 25

·  Series of public events to explore issues of rurality and access to services

We anticipate project work beginning over the next couple of weeks and have requested that all funded projects are completed by the end of August 2019. We hope to be able to share findings and key themes in the autumn and will keep the Committee updated as the projects progress.

Developing our working relationship with Virgin Care

In October 2018, Healthwatch Executive Board members met with Kirsty Matthews, Managing Director, and Lisa Cronan, Lead Nurse/ Quality Lead, at Virgin Care. At this meeting it was agreed that Healthwatch would meet with Virgin Care staff on a quarterly basis to share feedback from the public and seek responses to any points raised.

Through these meetings we also hope to develop a greater understanding of one another’s services in order to ensure that patients’ experiences are captured and people are signposted effectively.

Healthwatch B&NES is currently meeting local NHS Trusts to discuss their Quality Accounts from 2017-18. Through these meetings we hope to receive updates on how the Trusts are progressing their quality priorities and improvements, and explore what impact these improvements are having on patients and their families.

Healthwatch B&NES Executive Board members are due to meet Virgin Care in late January. We hope to receive feedback and assurance on some of the points that we raised in our formal response to their Quality Account 2017-18, as well as developing our understanding of the improvement work that they are undertaking.

Councillor Lin Patterson commented that she would be interested in the outcomes of the public events in rurality and access to services.

Alex Francis replied that Healthwatch have already worked with the CCG on this issue and did carry out a ride along with the previous supplier Arriva. She added that they were aware of the challenges people face, but said that the criteria is set nationally, not locally.

Councillor Patterson asked if Healthwatch had been contacted by the group Protect our NHS.

Alex Francis replied that they have spoken to the group, but were not in regular contact. She stated that Healthwatch were not a lobby group, their role is to share gathered public opinions.

The Chair thanked Alex Francis for her update on behalf of the Select Committee.