During summer 2012, the Isle of Wight Council started a process to find an organisation to take on the responsibilities and functions of local Healthwatch for the Isle of Wight. The government has already indicated, through the new law, that this organisation must be set up as a social enterprise, a not-for-profit organisation, ie a business that puts any money it makes directly back into the business for the benefit of the community.
Sharing learning with other authorities Early in 2011, the Isle of Wight Council joined forces with Southampton, Hampshire and Portsmouth local authorities as one of the government’s 75 pathfinders for local Healthwatch. This has enabled the authority to share information and learning.
Compiling a local picture At the same time, the council has been looking at services currently available in the community that might provide a similar role to local Healthwatch and assessing its own intentions for commissioning services in the future to ensure it does not duplicate efforts and can therefore ensure best use of public funds.
Preparing a transition plan with the LINk The Local Involvement Network (LINk) on the Isle of Wight has made some important progress in highlighting issues collectively raised by the community, devoting its time to projects of particular interest such as the changes to adult social care (particularly personal budgets), GP referrals, hospital transport and to discharges and mental health day services.
It has also increased its ability to enter and view health and social care premises. The Isle of Wight Council is continuing to transfer the maximum funding available for the LINk for it to continue this important work and is keen to ensure this work is carried forward by local Healthwatch - and that volunteers keen to continue their role are assisted to do so.
Assessing the impact on the community We’ve prepared an equality impact assessment, a document which sets out how we think the development of local Healthwatch will impact on people in the community. We will continue to reassess this as we receive your feedback and views. You can view this document here.
Listening to the community As part of this process, we held two information gathering events in November 2011; one in Winchester and one on the Island. The Island event was attended by 44 community organisations/representatives and the information from both events has been used to inform the ongoing work of the pathfinder group.
The feedback from the event on the Island recognised that it was early in the process and that information was still emerging about the development of local Healthwatch, but those attending also made it clear that:
· lessons could be learned from the establishment of the LINk;
· it was important that Healthwatch was independent of the council and NHS;
· it needed to take into account existing community groups;
· it needed to ensure meaningful community engagement (involvement), including those seldom heard;
· it needed to involve the right people and have good, strong leadership;
· it needed a local solution;
· it needed to be flexible and less constrained than previous structures.
This was followed by more extensive consultation with the Island community during June and July. The feedback from this consultation can be found here.
Awarding the contract
Following a rigorous procurement process, on 21 January 2013, the council announced that a consortium of Help and Care, Community Action Isle of Wight (formerly the Rural Community Council) and the Island’s Citizens Advice Bureau, will run Healthwatch on the Island. Furthermore, the NHS complaints advocacy service will be run by the South East Advocacy Partnership (SEAP) who are currently commissioned by the NHS to undertake this role.
To view the full press release click here.