VEAT notice for the City of London Healthwatch Services

Healthwatch is a statutory service which was established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to understand the needs, experiences and concerns of people who use health and social care services and to speak out on their behalf. Through its core functions the Healthwatch service supports the achievement of the strategic ambitions of the local health and care system, while operating as an organisation that is independent of these systems. This includes working with local residents to understand and represent their views and experiences of local health and care services. Healthwatch also has a key role in promoting and supporting residents to be actively involved in the commissioning and provision of local services and in their scrutiny once services are in place. Healthwatch also performs a vital function in considering the standard of health and care provision and working with partners to achieve improvements, Finally, Healthwatch offers advice and information about access to health and care services to enable residents to make informed choices. The statutory functions are : • Promoting and supporting the involvement of local people in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of local care services • Enabling local people to monitor the standard of provision of local care services and whether and how local care services could and ought to be improved. • Obtaining the views of local people regarding their needs for, and experiences of, local care services and importantly making these views known. • Making reports and recommendations about how local care services could or ought to be improved within an overall framework that recognises financial constraints. These should be directed to commissioners and providers of care services, and people responsible for managing or scrutinising local care services and shared with Healthwatch England • Providing advice and information about access to local care services so choices can be made about local care services. • Formulating views on the standard of provision and whether and how the local care services could and ought to be improved; and sharing these views with Healthwatch England • Making recommendations to Healthwatch England to advise the Care Quality Commission to conduct special reviews or investigations (or, where the circumstances justify doing so, making such recommendations directly to the CQC); and to make recommendations to Healthwatch England to publish reports about particular issues. • Providing Healthwatch England with the intelligence and insight it needs to enable it to perform effectively. • Make the views and experiences of people known to Healthwatch England, helping us to carry out their role as national champions.