A campaigning health watchdog that acts on behalf of patients across York is set to be scrapped under government plans.
Healthwatch York has been helping people in the city shape NHS and social care services for 12 years.
But it is not going quietly – saying it has a vital role to play in improving the NHS and urging ministers to think again.
Siân Balsom, Healthwatch York manager, said her small team and volunteers were shocked to be told that their organisation was set to be axed.
She found out by joining a video webinar when it was revealed that Healthwatch England and all its local affiliate groups were to set to go.
This was the evening before Health Secretary Wes Streeting released the news publicly via the Daily Mail, as part of his so-called “bonfire of the quangoes”.
Hundreds of bodies could go as part of the upcoming ten-year health plan.
Mr Streeting said: “There are way too many checkers and not enough doers in the system…
“We don’t need ventriloquists to speak for patients, patients can speak for ourselves if we’re given the opportunity to do it.”
But that was a “hurtful” misunderstanding of what Healthwatch York does, Sian told YorkMix.
“He said he wants to hold a megaphone to patient voice, and that’s what we’ve always been trying to do.
Siân Balsom, Healthwatch York. Photograph: Supplied
“Ventriloquists put words in the mouth of dummies. That’s not an analogy that I would ever use about the role that we play.
“We listen to people. The power that we have is nothing to do with the kind of statutory stuff and the seats at the table. It’s to do with using those voices in a way that people can’t ignore.
“Healthwatch York was created to make sure that people have a voice in our health and social care system.
“What we do matters.”
Group achievements
The organisation has been running since 2013. It has four part-time staff, a team of 30 volunteers and an annual budget of £115,610.
That small team take on a number of different roles. An engagement officer goes into the community to talk to people and listen to their experiences of health and social care.
Out of this work, Healthwatch York spoke to deaf people about their unsatisfactory experiences of health care communications.
As a result, the organisation was asked to join a national taskforce which created a set of standards to ensure that all patients were given information in a way that was accessible to them.
“That was a really proud moment for us, knowing we contributed to that national decision,” Siân said.
Healthwatch York volunteers visit care homes across the city to talk to residents and ask them: “what is it like to live here?” Those reports are published.
Other volunteers check NHS leaflets and similar literature and suggest changes to make sure they are understandable to patients.
A Healthwatch York research officer does deep dives into key topics, including one on mental health crisis care. That involved partnering with organisations like York Mind as well as people with lived experience of mental illness, drug use and the criminal justice system.
York Hospital. Photograph: YorkMix
His recommendations were taken to the decision makers at places like York Hospital and local NHS trusts “to let them know what people are telling us, what really matters to them, what their experiences have been, and how we think those experiences could be improved,” Sian said.
And another team member puts together guides for people trying to navigate their way through the health system.
‘Listen again’
Under the Health Secretary’s plans patients would report their experiences direct, via the NHS app.
But Siân says this would exclude many people who weren’t comfortable with using smartphones. And much of the feedback that did get through would lack the depth of the Healthwatch York reports.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Photograph: Lucy North / PA wire
She said: “I really hope that there’s an opportunity to pause and listen again to those working in the health and care system about what our value could be going forward.
“As somebody I spoke to today said to me, the problem is, if you didn’t exist, we’d have to invent you. Let’s not reinvent something that’s already there, that’s already working.”
Siân urged anyone who wanted to raise their concerns about the loss of Healthwatch York to write to their MP.
In the meantime, the organisation looks set to continue its work, at least until new legislation confirms the abolition, which is not expected until 2026.
Siân said: “I would urge Wes Streeting to think again, to talk with us, with members of the network, and with members of the public who’ve used our services.
“I would urge him to listen to those voices, understand what we bring to the system.
“I think we can play a really vital part in the rebuilding of our NHS.”