Healthwatch England – a platform for action

1. Healthwatch England – a platform for action

2. Healthwatch England • All children, young people and adults in England • Health and social care together, enabling us to look at the whole person With: • Powers to escalate concerns • Powers to advise a formidable range of organisations and the Secretary of State • Powers to conduct special inquiries/reports

3. The Healthwatch network • 152 local Healthwatch across the country – everyone in England is covered Providing information and signposting A statutory place on the local Health and Wellbeing Board …working together to deliver change for people who use health and social care.

4. Local Healthwatch in action

5. Digging deep – what consumers really think about health and social care

6. People’s experiences are mixed • On the surface, 7 out of 10 of us believe we get a good quality service from the NHS and social care services • But digging deeper with the public we found that: • A shocking 1 in 3 of us have experienced, or knowing someone who has experienced, a serious mistake or abuse, leaving many of us with a deep concern over basic safety standards. • Despite this, more than half of us who have experienced a problem with health or social care in the last three years did nothing to report it. • Almost one in four people say that professionals aren’t really interested in what they have to say or do not actively listen. 11

7. People know change is needed

8. A fresh approach • A fresh approach is needed that focuses on what consumer want and need. • We started by listening to people’s views and experiences – we an a deliberative event with the public and sought views of stakeholders and partners. • We asked over 2,000 people using health and social care what mattered most to them

9. Our vision for rights in health and social care • We have been working with the public, and people who use services, to apply consumer rights to health and social care for the first time. • The right to essential services • The right to access • The right to a safe, dignified and quality service • The right to information and education • The right to choose • The right to be listened to • The right to be involved • The right to live in a healthy environment

10. Rights in more detail 3. The right to a safe, dignified and quality service I have the right to high quality, safe services that treat me with dignity, compassion and respect. I had an excellent service when I had my daughter two years ago. The midwife was very professional and knew what she was doing. I experienced some complications and it was handled very professionally. What this could mean in practice? If you are in a care home and can’t go to the toilet alone, staff should offer support in a timely fashion and give you the privacy you want. You should not be left to wet your bed or strain your body while you hold it in

11. Rights in more detail 4. The right to information and education I have the right to information and education about how to take care of myself and what I am entitled to within the health and social care system. Pharmacists are very good. The pharmacist will correct the GP or tell you to go to A&E if you should do. My pharmacist does talk to my GP to talk about the prescription to check its OK. What this could mean in practice? If you have diabetes, you should be able to find out how nutrition affects your condition and you should be given advice on how to manage your diet effectively.

12. Rights in more detail 7. The right to be involved I am an equal partner in determining my own health and wellbeing. I have the right to be involved in decisions that affect my life and those affecting services in my local community. With my direct payment, I am in control of my care and my life. I chose who comes into my home and what they do to support me. What this could mean in practice? If you are a young person with a mental health condition, your ideas, opinions and concerns should be treated on an equal basis with the professionals when planning how you will be supported in the future.

13. Let’s get talking! • We want to hear from you about what these rights mean to you, in your work and in your local community and how, together, we bring these rights to life in our work. • Email your thoughts to rights@healthwatch.co.uk • Go to our website for interactive content and to leave feedback • Take part in the online conversation on Twitter using #thinkrights

14. Next steps • This is just the beginning of our work on consumer rights in health and social care. • By next year we will have: • had conversations with the public, people who use services and people who advocate for them about their experiences of these rights • undertaken a formal consultation process, ending in December • collaborated with people who use mental health services and children and young people, to understand better what these rights mean for them • checked whether the right laws, policies and practices are in place you can inform your local communities about how they assert their rights and we can use our statutory powers to advise Government

15. Thank you! • @HealthwatchE #thinkrights