Agenda item

Healthwatch Leicester will update the Board on their annual report.

A representative of Healthwatch presented the organisation’s annual report for 2024/25, including its activities, impact and priorities for 2025/26. It was noted that.

·       Health Watch had statutory functions carried out through a host organisation known as Val. It was independent, serving as a Local Champion for patients and a public voice, ensuring people's experiences positively influenced health and social care provision.

·       Its findings were usually brought to strategic meetings across Leicester and Leicestershire

·       It was a jointly commissioned contract through Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council.

·       The recent announcement about the future of the organisation was highlighted.

·       Its engagement and activity for 2024-25 were highlighted, including the percentage of the numbers that constitute people in the city.

·       Impact-wise, it had representation at key strategic meetings and several meetings through the Health Watch advisory board, which was not contractual but was considered important.

·       The organisation had a collaborative approach with stakeholders as a critical friend and had developed good working relationships across organisations like ICB, UHL, and LPT.

·       Some of the works delivered as detailed in the year 2024-25 were:

­   children’s emergency department visit, highlighting opportunities where UHL could enhance their services, etc. The result of this was that a detailed action plan had been produced and some of the improvements had already been implemented, e.g. information on wait times, making the environment more user-friendly, etc. Work would continue with UHL on this.

­    Healthwatch also worked with CAHMs and Beacon Unit, including improvements to food provisions, staff recruitment, training, etc.

­   work with LPT on men’s mental health and communication for families around wait times, since this was a national issue.

­   work around temporary accommodation for Leicester families because of experience with engagement with the community and public. Nine hotels were visited and an online survey carried out, which yielded 35 responses, primarily from women. Before this, there was a struggle to get them to talk about their experiences.

·       The priorities for 25-26 included

­   GP access, given that this was the number one issue for local people based on feedback from public engagement. This would involve enhancing an understanding of practices where things are working well in the city and county and taking on board new learnings.

­   Mental health, which remained a key concern for both adults and children, especially around wait times. There was ongoing work with the ICB and LPT on initiatives that have worked.

­   Engagement of people who use care services to understand needs and areas needing improvement

·       Some of the planned activities within capacity would continue, e.g. hashtag. Insights will also be shared with providers and commissions, making sure that meetings were attended and intelligence could be shared.

In discussions with Members the following was noted:

·       Members requested that the forthcoming mental health report from the provider trust be shared with the Board and that future plans for mental health services be brought forward for consideration. It was also suggested that the Board issue a letter to the West stressing its concerns regarding the continuation of Healthwatch and the potential impact on local engagement and public voice.

·       It was noted that Healthwatch would continue to operate as normal for the next year, although there might be a closure or reorganisation around 2027. Members expressed concern about the possible effect this could have on ensuring that the voice of the public continued to be heard within the health and care system.

·       Members referred to ongoing work commissioned around suicide prevention and mental health and supported the proposal for the Board to have sight of that report.

·       Members recognised the valuable contribution made by Healthwatch and the strong support it had provided to local work programmes.

·       Concern was expressed about how feedback loops would operate in the absence of Healthwatch, and members questioned how learning and improvement would continue without its independent input. It was noted that Healthwatch feedback had been a key mechanism in understanding patient experience across the system and had played an important role in supporting NHS partners.

·       Members asked whether GP practices had alternative feedback mechanisms in place. It was explained that Healthwatch had undertaken visits to practices and other providers, feeding back findings which had led to service improvements. Healthwatch representatives had also been invited to Primary Care Network meetings to share insights directly with practices.

·       It was noted that Healthwatch’s main area of focus had been primary care and that visits to providers and the patient participation group network had provided valuable informal feedback from patients.

·       Members expressed appreciation for the work of Healthwatch and reiterated the importance of maintaining a strong mechanism for capturing patient voice across the system.

AGREED:

1.    That the board notes the report.

2.    That the Board write to NHS England outlining its concerns regarding the potential impact of changes to Healthwatch and the need to ensure continuity in capturing the voice of local residents.