To receive an update on the work of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough.
Minutes:
Sarah Deason, Business Development Director of The Advocacy People, provided a presentation to Members.
During the discussion of this item the following points were made:
· The Advocacy People were the new host provider for the Healthwatch Wokingham Borough service. The service had started on 1 April.
· Sarah Deason outlined the role and remit of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough including making sure that the voice of the public was heard and signposting. Issues could also be escalated to Healthwatch England.
· The current focus was on recruiting staff and volunteers. No staff and only a couple of volunteers had TUPE’D across from the previous providers.
· Healthwatch had an office in the Wokingham Charity and Community Hub which made it more visible. An online poll had shown that awareness of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough was quite low, so a focus was to improve awareness. Even though the email address and phone number remained the same, very few comments from the public had been received, although this was now increasing.
· Healthwatch Wokingham Borough was networking with the voluntary sector and statutory services and sharing information with the public, to raise awareness.
· Advocacy People ran separate contracts for the three Healthwatch services across Berkshire West, which meant economies of scale could be provided e.g. for staffing meetings.
· Priorities and projects were starting to be identified.
· Members requested that the slides be provided prior to the meeting in future to assist with questioning.
· A Member referred to a tweet that Healthwatch Wokingham Borough had issued in August which had asked people for their good news stories with the hashtags #positivity matters and #thankful Thursday. He questioned whether this approach was in line with Healthwatch’s remit. Sarah Deason explained that Healthwatch England had been clear about what it required from local Healthwatch and that was to hear people’s experiences, both positive and negative. This provided a balanced picture. Healthwatch was acutely aware of the difficulties in the NHS but there were many staff who appreciated good feedback on their hard work. When things went wrong Healthwatch also wanted to hold the relevant organisations to account.
· A Member commented that access to GPs was an issue of concern in the Borough, and questioned whether the lack of a GP at the Burma Hills surgery had been raised with Healthwatch Wokingham Borough. Sarah Deason confirmed that it had not.
· A Member referred to Healthwatch Wokingham Borough’s website and questioned how who formed the Board as this section was empty. Sarah Deason explained that the previous providers of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough had been a company interest company and had a Board which ran this and were the advisory Group for the service. Advocacy People had a different model, in that the advisory group at a local level, were not involved in the governance of a charity. All the information was on the Advocacy People website. In Wokingham Borough there would be an advisory group of volunteers who would scrutinise the work plan and work being undertaken. Members suggested that the Healthwatch website be updated to explain this.
· In response to a Member comment regarding Healthwatch assisting residents in making complaints, Sarah Deason clarified that an individual NHS complaint would be supported by the Advocacy People with the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy. Sarah Deason offered to provide the Committee with information on this if required.
· The Committee questioned how many members of staff and volunteers were currently in place, and was informed that there 2 employees in Wokingham in addition to Sarah, and 2 volunteers, although discussions were being held with more potential volunteers.
· In response to a Member question as to areas of priority identified that needed attention, Sarah Deason indicated that no priorities had been handed over by the previous Healthwatch providers. Healthwatch Wokingham Borough had been looking at different aspects such as maternity, self-care, information on vaccinations, and access to GP and dental services.
· A Member questioned the level of funding provided by the Council to Healthwatch Wokingham Borough and the length of the contract. Matt Pope indicated that the value of the contract was the same as previously with an inflationary uplift, and was for 3 years with an option to an extend.
· Members questioned whether access to dentistry was high on Healthwatch Wokingham Borough’s agenda. Sarah Deason indicated that it was. As well as being a local issue, it was also a national issue, and information was also being fed upwards into the national picture.
RESOLVED: That the update from Healthwatch Wokingham Borough be noted and Sarah Deason be thanked for her presentation.