Agenda item

[To consider the Healthwatch Annual Report 2019-2020]. 

The Healthwatch Manager presented the Healthwatch Annual Report 2019-2020.  The Chair and Vice-Chair had submitted a total of eight advance questions to the Healthwatch Manager for a response to be given at the meetings.  The first question was, “the Annual Report refers to making 192 recommendations for improvement, do you keep track on whether these recommendations have been implemented and do you publish the outcomes?”  The Healthwatch Manager responded that as part of their 2020-2021 enter and view visits, they were planning to conduct re-visits. They had however suspended enter and view visits in March 2020 due to Covid-19 and ensuring the safety of volunteers, many of which fell in the vulnerable category and for the safety of patients.  It was later recommended by Healthwatch England to suspend all enter and view activities and it still remained their advice.  Their parent company Engaging Communities Solutions were exploring ways that might enable people living and using services to share their stories using digital technology.  More generally some of the recommendations effected the wider Black Country area and so there was a need to liaise with other areas when following up recommendations.  For other report recommendations, they would form part of their work plan for next year. 

The second question submitted was, “can you explain how you choose which places to “enter and view” and the role of the Healthwatch Advisory Board in this process?” The Healthwatch Manager responded that there were various ways the enter and view locations were chosen.  The location choices were based on the intelligence they received through a number of channels including patient experience and feedback. They worked with the quality teams at the local authority, CCG and CQC and were currently meeting them virtually.  She advised that the Healthwatch Advisory Board (HAB) must approve the decision on which visits should be undertaken and she added that they had recently refreshed the decision making policy and process to ensure that the process in which a visit is determined and agreed upon is fully transparent.  The rationale behind the decision was recorded in their HAB meeting minutes, which was a public document available on their website.  However, whilst they always tried to plan ahead and obtain HAB approval on premises to visit, there were some occasions when an urgent visit was required, as the Healthwatch Manager she could make a recommendation to the HAB Chair if time was of the essence.  The Chair could agree the visit as a Chair’s action, which would be recorded retrospectively in the HAB meeting minutes at the next available meeting.  In reality this only happened on rare occasions. 

The third question which had been submitted was, “what are your plans for “Enter and View” because it was paused during Covid-19?”  The Healthwatch Manager responded that it was currently paused, but this had not prevented them engaging with the public via virtual engagement meetings, coffee mornings, and their annual planning meeting. 

The Chair had submitted the question, “can you explain the process for how you identify and recruit volunteers?”  The Healthwatch Manager remarked that there were various ways they recruited volunteers.  Before Covid-19 they went into the community as part of their engagement activity.  The website had details of the volunteer jobs and there was a volunteer handbook.  There was an online form which could be completed.  Social media also promoted volunteers particularly in volunteer week in June, it also asked if people wished to volunteer.  Word of mouth was also important and she cited the example of a student who had conducted work experience who had told a family member.  This family member had now been recruited and they would have a leading role in the Youth Healthwatch.

The fifth question which had been submitted was, “can you give the Panel the definitive number of how many active volunteers Healthwatch Wolverhampton currently have?” The Healthwatch Manager responded that as of the preceding Monday, they had 27 active volunteers. Throughout lockdown they had received 10 queries through websites and social media.  Four were interested in Youth Healthwatch.  Out of the 10 people, five people had gone forward for an interview. The remainder they had followed up on their initial enquiry but had not had any further communication from them.  Out of the five people they had interviewed, one had been fully inducted and there were plans for the other four to be inducted by the end of September 2020. 

The Vice Chair had submitted the question, “can you detail, where the additional income of £30,635.31 came from please?” The Healthwatch Manager responded that they had carried out a General Practice Nurse Project with the CCG across the Black Country.  They received an income of £10,000 but £7,500 of costs had been distributed to Healthwatch Sandwell, Healthwatch Dudley and Healthwatch Walsall.  £7,025 came from the CCG End of Life Project, which they had been commissioned to undertake.  £3,250 was received from Healthwatch England as part of the long-term plan. £514.31 was for a student nurse placement.  £9,846 was deferred income from previous years, surplus carried forward.  Any decisions about projects going forward went through the HAB as part of the decision making process to ensure there were no conflicts in taking on projects.

The Chair had submitted the question, “have all volunteers and staff received Suicide Awareness Training, if not what are the plans for them to do so?” The Healthwatch Manager responded that Suicide Awareness Training was not mandatory.  However all the staff had received the training.   Details of the training had been shared with HAB Members and volunteers had been asked to let their volunteer lead know if they had undertaken the training.  However only a small number of volunteers had responded.  Some volunteers had commented that they would be uncomfortable completing the training.  It was offered to all the work experience students.  18 of them had undertaken the training.  The training had also been shared at the College and their own Membership.  Details of the training was available on the website.  Compton was carrying out some training along with the University.  This was face to face training which when deemed safe to run again, would be offered to all Healthwatch Staff and volunteers.

The final question which had been submitted was, “how do you see the relationship of Healthwatch with other health partners and do you see your role as an organisation evolving as part of the overall health system?”  The Healthwatch Manager responded that they had a good relationship with all social care and health partners.  As an example, she commented that the Chair of the HAB and herself met with the Chief Executive and Chair of RWT on a six monthly basis.  They met with the Patient Experience Team and the Deputy Chief Nurses on a quarterly basis.  They had been involved in extensive CCG work regarding primary care commissioning and the Integrated Care Partnership.  They had also been involved in the Discharge to Access process meetings.  They also met with the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and the voluntary sector.  They had recently worked with the CCG to ensure homeless people were registered with a GP Practice, following difficulties with homeless people accessing healthcare.  They were involved with restoration and recovery talks and frequent discussions with Healthwatch England.