LocalHealthWatch: Consultation for Kirklees

Below is some information on a consultation exercise being carried out across Kirklees – as part of the reforms to the NHS currently going through parliament.  Trudi Wright is the HealthWatch Project Manager based at the Council.
HealthWatch Kirklees will be the new consumer champion for health and social care services in our area.  It ‘goes live’ in April 2013 and is being introduced as part of the changes with the Health & Social Care Bill.  It will help people have their say about health and social care services.
Councils have to set up and fund HealthWatch but it will be independent, so will have a voice of its own and can take decisions in the best interests of patients and the public.
HealthWatch is a new idea, but it will take over the work currently undertaken by Kirklees LINk.  But it will do extra things as well, like:

• Getting more adults, children and young people involved in planning and checking health and social care services

• Getting more people involved in talking about what they get from health and social care services in Kirklees

• Making sure the people who make decisions know about what you think

• Providing information to patients, service users and carers to help them choose services

• Supporting people if they want to make a complaint about the NHS

The council is asking  people in Kirklees what they want from HealthWatch before any decisions are made, through a mixture of events and a short survey.
The survey will only take 5 minutes and you can be part of a prize draw to win £50 of gift vouchers.  For those who want to complete it on-line – you can access it by clicking below.

http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/care-support/healthwatch/local_healthwatch.shtml

Otherwise, Trudi can send you a batch of the attached surveys and FREEPOST envelopes for you to distribute through your networks.  If you would like copies of the survey to distribute, including FREEPOST envelopes, please let me know.

In addition people are invited to attend a tea-time consultation session (4.00 p.m. – 7.00 p.m.) in either Huddersfield or Batley.  Light refreshments will be provided.  The sessions will start with a short introduction to explain a bit more about Local HealthWatch – but the majority of the time will be for you to leave a comment or have your say on what you would want from a new consumer champion for health and social care services.  You don’t have to stay for the full duration – you can drop in for as long as you like.  There will be guest speakers there from the new Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Public Health Team.  In Batley there will also be someone from the Mid-Yorks Acute Trust to talk about the changes happening at Dewsbury Hospital.

So the dates for your diary are:

• 29^th March at Brian Jackson House, New North Parade, Huddersfield, HD1 5JP

• 26^th April at the Al-Hikmah Centre, 28 Track Road ,Batley, WF17 7AA

For more information go to: www.kirklees.gov.uk/healthwatch  or see the enclosed flyer.

In the meantime – Trudi is happy to organise a focus group for those people, like yourselves, who are involved or interested in health and social care services – or with an interest in HealthWatch.  It’s particularly important that you have a chance to have your say at a focus group.  So, if you would like to take part in this focus group – please let me know, so Trudi can consult you on an appropriate date and time.

You can email on Trudi.wright@kirklees.gov.uk or localhealthwatch@kirklees.gov.uk or by phoning or writing to Trudi at her details below.
Thanks in anticipation of your involvement in the HealthWatch consultations and Trudi looks forward to hearing from you

Trudi Wright
HealthWatch Project Manager
Communities & Leisure
Civic Centre
12nd Floor South
High StreetHuddersfield
HD1 2PQ
Tel: 07980 911654 / 01484 226371