Brighton and Hove health watchdog prepares to go live

The independent watchdog Healthwatch Brighton and Hove is due to go live at the start of next month.

It held a reception to mark the transition after a year as a “shadow official watchdog”.

The Mayor of Brighton and Hove Councillor Denise Cobb unveiled a Healthwatch banner which included its weekday helpline number 01273 234040.

She was joined by about 40 people who work in health, social care and community organisations in the area.

Councillor Cobb said: “This is a time of great opportunity for us to bring about real change for local people together by ensuring that we have good health and social care services in our city and improved experiences for users of these services and their families.”

Councillor Rob Jarrett

Healthwatch evolved from Brighton and Hove Local Involvement Network (LINk) on Monday 1 April last year and, with shadow status, has been involved in many areas of work.

Fran McCabe, who chairs of Healthwatch Brighton and Hove, said: “We have set up the helpline which can directly support people who have problems with primary care services – GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians.

“It can ensure you get help from the other services who deal with people’s concerns.

“We have been also contributing to public meetings, such as the Health and Wellbeing Board and the scrutiny panel that set the strategy for health and social care services and examine how services are delivered.

“We also have carried out research – a major report on urgent care was published before Christmas and its findings were fed into the report about the reasons for inappropriate use of A&E that Healthwatch England released last Tuesday.

“It has been proven that the voice of local people can have national impact.

“Currently, we are continuing to monitor what is happening to our recommendations.”

She added: “Healthwatch will be commissioning new work during the next year and have been listening to what community voices and individual members of the public are saying.

“We want more people to know about and use our services and over the next few months will be listening to lots of people about what should be our priorities.

“We are having our first open meeting on Saturday 29 March, 11am to 2pm, at City College Brighton and Hove, where the public can learn more about us and share their views to help develop a city-wide mental wellbeing strategy.”

Councillor Rob Jarrett, chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “Healthwatch is acting as our critical friend and I firmly believe that we can make a difference in Brighton and Hove by working together.”

Xavier Nalletamby, chairman of Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “It is great to see Healthwatch in Brighton and Hove being officially launched.

“We look forward to working closely with them as both our organisations continue to strive to improve healthcare in the city to make sure people living in Brighton and Hove have access to excellent, safe and effective services.”

Public health consultant Dr Max Kammerling said: “It is essential to consult with patients and the public and listen to what they say, otherwise services will not be used and advice not taken up.”