{"id":228443,"date":"2025-07-01T05:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T05:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228443\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T05:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T05:10:11","slug":"birmingham-health-boss-warns-scrapping-healthwatch-is-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228443\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham health boss warns ‘scrapping Healthwatch is dangerous\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government will unveil its 10 Year Health Plan this week and, over the weekend, it was reported it intends to close a number of bodies such as Healthwatch England <\/a>to \u201ccut bureaucracy and wasteful spending\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Richard Burden, chair of Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull <\/a>said it would be a \u2018sad day\u2019 if the body set up to be a voice for patients was axed.<\/p>\n

Healthwatch was set up more than a decade ago under the Health and Social Care<\/a> Act 2012 with the aim of giving people a stronger say in how services are provided.<\/p>\n

Mr Burden said: \u201cSuccessive governments have said they want patients and the public to have a real say in the care they receive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the patient voice can only be meaningful if it is independent of the system, not part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat independence has always been part of Healthwatch\u2019s DNA and it is precisely what Ministers appear to be trying to dismantle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf reports over the weekend are accurate, Ministers want Healthwatch England\u2019s role to be carried out by a senior manager in the Department of Health and Social Care \u2013 in other words by someone who is part of the very system that Healthwatch is in business to monitor and hold accountable.<\/p>\n

\"QueenQueen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Taken from Google Street View.<\/p>\n

\u201cScrapping Healthwatch England is dangerous and dismantling local Healthwatches like ours would be just as damaging<\/p>\n

\u201cBirmingham and Solihull Healthwatch has played a central role in exposing management failure and toxic culture at the biggest hospital trust in the Midlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic scrutiny and the independence of our voice have been crucial in forcing change on a closed system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout that pressure, it would have been too easy for NHS management to avoid tackling the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYear in, year out, we listen to patients \u2013 whether about it\u2019s about social care commissioned by local authorities or NHS services like trying to get a GP appointment, delays in A and E, waiting lists for cancer treatment or getting mental health support when it is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are regularly told that the in-depth reports we produce are valued by hospitals and providers of social care.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are constructive partners in improving care across Birmingham and Solihull.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut our independence empowers us to also speak out publicly when we need to \u2013 whether it is about NHS services or social care commissioned by local<\/p>\n

authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthwatch was set up by Act of Parliament, and it will be a sad day if Ministers now bring in new laws to silence the independent voice of patients and the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the Birmingham and Solihull area, we hope that Health and Social Care commissioners will recognize the importance of retaining an independent patient voice locally, whatever system ministers establish at national level.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said it was \u201cdeeply disappointing\u201d how the news emerged late on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cAll around the country, Healthwatch staff and volunteers work tirelessly on behalf of patients, to support communities and to tackle inequalities in health and social care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first many of them knew about the government\u2019s plan to close down Healthwatch was when they heard about it in the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not statistics. They are people. They deserve better than to be cast into uncertainty- both for themselves and the patients they serve \u2013 by the way Ministers handled last Friday\u2019s announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government will unveil its 10 Year Health Plan this week and, over the weekend, it was reported…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,105,8823,379,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-228443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-ldrs","14":"tag-local-hubs","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114776259801841983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}