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What will Local Healthwatch look like?

What do we (sort of) know about Local Healthwatch?

NEW! Here's a September 2011 update for you: HealthWatch Briefing Paper for the Somerset LINk. Any amendments or comments? Please let us know.

We've been trawling through the various documents that accompany the draft Health & Social Care Bill, such as the Equalities Impact Assessments, and we've come up with our best-guesses about what Local Healthwatch might look like.

Please read our DISCLAIMER: Please note that these are best-guesses extrapolated from the documents that are referenced in the footnotes below. We have not received any information about the structure or potential shape of Local Healthwatch other than the documents referred to. This is all best-guesswork, interpretation and extrapolation and we expect that the detail may prove very different to the below. This information is not authoritative or confirmed in any way. If you have any more info, please let us know!

 

Local HealthWatch organisations: best guesses

“Local HealthWatch organisations will be the local consumer champion across health and social care.[i]”

Local Healthwatch will (probably):

  • Retain all the existing functions of the LINk, including promoting involvement, obtaining views, monitoring health and care services, making reports and recommendations, Enter & View.
  • Provide information to support patient choice: As an example of where this is currently occurring, the PCT PALs function is cited. The intention seems to be that the PCT PALs function will move across to LHW[ii]. (Primarily however, the practical examples that are given for this function are for requests for information about GP practices and dentists[iii].)
  • Have representative on Local Health & Wellbeing boards. These boards will be responsible for the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and also for developing a Health and Wellbeing Strategy based on the evidence in the JSNA.
  • Possibly provide complaints advocacy (ICAS): Currently, this is managed at a national level but it will be the responsibility of local authorities from April 2012. Local authorities will be required to put this work out to contract and LHW is presented as the natural location of ICAS[iv], although other organisations can tender for this as well.

We also know (possibly…)…

  • LHW will be in place in April 2012, building on the current LINks.
  • LHW will be called “Healthwatch” and not “HealthWatch”.[v]
  • LHW will be an organisation in its own right, and no longer ‘just’ a network.[vi]
  • LHW will have ‘members’ who can be paid.[vii]
  • LHW will have participants as well as ‘members’.[viii]
  • LHW may appoint its own employees.[ix][x]
  • A LHW may arrange for an employee (or member or committee) or some other person to exercise functions on its behalf.
  • LHW will have to produce its own annual accounts.[xi]
  • LHW could have approximately 8-9 members of staff per LHW (some of these will possibly be from PCT PALs departments and some from existing ICAS offices).[xii]
  • GP Consortia will need to establish relationships with LHW[xiii].
  • The role of hosts will need to change, although it seems they will still be needed[xiv][xv]. LAs must make arrangements that a LHW is established and carries out specified activities; they may possibly make those arrangements directly with the LHW.
  • There is still a possibility that some LHW’s may be a ‘high-street’ presence.[xvi][xvii]
  • Healthwatch England will provide standards against which LHW can be measured.[xviii]

 

Footnotes:


[i]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D15.

[ii]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment (7.) “Roles and responsibilities in provision of information to support choice. D37. Options considered were that this role would • be fulfilled by employees of local HealthWatch  • be fulfilled by volunteers • be fulfilled by a combination of employees of local HealthWatch and volunteers • subsume existing PALS functions into local HealthWatch.”

D38. Feedback on this was less than expected, though with the development of GP Consortia, the possibility that some PALS work for primary care could be provided by local HealthWatch was raised. However, this would not cover services provided by hospital PALS service. It is ultimately up to local HealthWatch how it exercises this function, but we will help local HealthWatch develop their model based upon the feedback from the engagement exercise and bearing in mind responses to the consultations on choice and information.”

[iii]Health & Social Care Bill Equalities Impact Assessment, D34 “Having information on the range of services available in different practices, should allow better allocation of people to the services that best meet their needs.”

[iv]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D20. “Local authorities will assume responsibility for arranging NHS complaints advocacy, currently provided as a national function under the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS) contract. They will be able to commission complaints advocacy through Local HealthWatch.”

[v]Referred to throughout the Health & Social Care Bill.

[vi]Health & Social Care Bill, Schedule 16A Section 220A (1).

[vii]Health & Social Care Bill, Schedule 16A Section 220A (2). (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the membership of LHWs. (2) The regulations may in particular make provision about— (a) the number of members; (b) conditions of eligibility for membership; (c) the appointment of members (including who has the power of appointment); (d) the terms of appointment; (e) circumstances in which a person ceases to be a member or may be suspended; (f) the payment of remuneration and other amounts to or in respect of members.

[viii]Health & Social Care Bill, Schedule 16A Section 220A (5). (3) An LHW may pay remuneration and allowances to persons who are members of a committee or sub-committee of its but are not members of the LHW.

[ix]Health & Social Care Bill, Schedule 16A Section 220A (3). Staff; 3 (1) An LHW may appoint persons as employees. (2) An employee of an LHW is to be appointed on such terms and conditions (including as to remuneration, pensions and allowances) as the organisation may determine.

[x]Health & Social Care Bill Equalities Impact Assessment: “D46. In addition (to core LHW Staff), there will be staff employed directly by HealthWatch England and potentially contracted by them carry out duties which include support to local HealthWatch.”

[xi]Health & Social Care Bill, Schedule 16A Section 220A (7). (2) An LHW must prepare annual accounts in respect of each financial year in such form as the Secretary of State may determine.

[xii]Based on figures in Health & Social Care Bill Equalities Impact Assessment: “D43. There is no information covering the number of staff currently employed in the functions that will move to HealthWatch. A best estimate is that there are 330 people employed in the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service, 410 people employed in Primary Care Trusts providing a service giving information to support choice and 450 people employed to support Local Involvement Networks.

D44. Each of these three services has a different contractual situation. We will need to work through the implications of this to establish how local HealthWatch will be staffed.”

[xiii]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D21. “GP Consortia will need to establish and nurture new relationships with Local HealthWatch”

[xiv]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D30. “As local HealthWatch organisations will have responsibilities for helping individuals by advising people about services and accessing advocacy services it is proposed that they will become bodies corporate. The type of organisation will be for local determination. As an organisation in its own right, the role of hosts will need to change and it is possible that hosts will be involved in the arrangements for Local HealthWatch. We will work with local government, the voluntary sector and LINks to discuss the changing role of hosts.”

[xv]Health & Social Care Bill Equalities Impact Assessment: D10. HealthWatch England, as a sub-committee of the CQC will be subject to the Equality Act 2010 (general and specific duties). Local HealthWatch may be procured by Local Authorities through other organisations such as voluntary, charity or community, or private sector organisations.

[xvi]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D57. If marketed well, the creation of local Healthwatch should build a higher public facing brand than current arrangements. An example of this was the move to set up Walk in Centres. Following their introduction, there was a 14% rise in service users on urgent care services. While this is not directly indicative of the scale of rise in the case of HealthWatch, it is the closest example.

[xvii]See also D52 in Health & Social Care Bill Equalities Impact Assessment.

[xviii]Health & Social Care Bill Combined Impact Assessment, D34. “Following consultation, and based on the importance of locality, local HealthWatch organisations will be contracted by and accountable to local authorities. Healthwatch England will provide leadership and support. We envisage this will be in the form of standards against which local authorities and Local HealthWatch organisations themselves will be able to benchmark their performance.”