Healthwatch is about listening to people. But listening for listening’s sake is not enough.. Feedback has to lead to change. 

Our brand messaging puts impact front and centre because:  

• It builds trust with local people, including those whose voices are not being listened to, by showing that sharing their experiences with us is worthwhile. 
• It increases the trust of local partners and makes it more likely they will act on what the public has told us. 
• It demonstrates to our funders that we provide value for money. 

Helping you show your impact

We recognised the value of using a Theory of Change model to underpin planning processes early on. It formed the foundation of our Making a Difference Toolkit which was developed and tested by ten grant-funded Healthwatch. 

We have developed a range of other resources for the network, including a popular impact tracking spreadsheet to help a Healthwatch team log and follow-up on anticipated outcomes. 

“We’ve found all the related templates and guidance to be invaluable to our team.  They are easy to understand and give us a complete journey from theory, to concept, to delivery, to finished report and influencing.  We feel we have a much more professional approach, and this has helped us when collaborating with other stakeholders … we are getting more organisations contacting us because of our efficiency. If only we had had these in 2013, we could have conquered the world by now!” 

Healthwatch Darlington

Between September 2020 and March 2021, 69 Healthwatch participated in Impact Programme workshops or received one-to-one support, with 78% confirming an immediate increase in confidence around outcomes and impact. 

“We all found it really helpful and definitely something we can use going forward for other pieces of work … it really makes sense now! Thanks again.” 

Healthwatch Rotherham

The difference we’re making together 

We see changes to how you plan, follow-up on and communicate about projects. Now also starting to use our new Planning guidance and checklist, there’s a far greater focus on outcomes and impact at every stage. Often the impetus to focus more on impact has come from completing the Quality Framework self-assessment. 

Reviewing this year’s annual reports showed how far things have progressed. Following conversations we’ve all had about attribution and language around outcomes, there’s been a noticeable increase in confidence around taking credit for positive changes achieved for service users. 

We worked collaboratively with the CCG to successfully secure funding which will establish new mental health support teams within schools providing more early intervention and low-level support for young people. This also means more support can now be offered to parent carers. A new parent peer support group is being implemented in the coming months.

Healthwatch Darlington Annual Report 2020/21

The recommendations from our 2019 report on young people’s oral health have been reflected in the 2021 Oral Health Strategy. This includes recommended actions of:- 

• Integration of oral health into targeted home visits by health/social care workers 
• Supervised tooth brushing in targeted childhood settings 
• Targeted peer support groups/peer oral health workers 
• Healthy food and drink policies in childhood settings 

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen Annual Report 2020/21

I’m excited to see even more achievements with next year’s reports, where hopefully the benefits of our Impact Tracker will be further realised. 

Our conversations with local authority commissioners of the service confirm that they very much support this increased focus on outcomes. Whilst they understand that sometimes delicate stakeholder relationships can make it difficult to shout about impact, there’s no escaping the need they see to help ensure people can pinpoint how Healthwatch has contributed to improvements to services. 

Get in touch 

Want to know more? Just get in touch with me or your Regional Manager. 

jon.turner@healthwatch.co.uk

This step-by-step guide will help you focus on your project objectives, plan your activity and communicate and evaluate your successes as a team. 

The project checklist will show you how to:

•    Create a robust prioritization process
•    Provide structure to your planning
•    Plan your outcomes and proposed impact at the start of your project
•    Provide handy tips and tricks to help you deliver on your projects

We offered grants to local Healthwatch to produce guides on how to replicate and adapt engagement approaches that have worked well for them. Thank you to Healthwatch Rotherham, who produced this guide on how to engage with refugees and asylum seekers.

Why use this guide

This guide will help you overcome the challenges of engaging with refugees and asylum seekers and help you break down barriers which are essential to improving health and wellbeing. 

Read the six key principles to drive good practice, as well as the methodology Healthwatch Rotherham have successfully used when engaging with local refugees and asylum seekers about the COVID-19 vaccine. 

We offered grants to local Healthwatch to produce guides on how to replicate and adapt engagement approaches that have worked well for them. Thank you to Healthwatch Darlington, who produced this guide on how to run engagement events using Facebook live.

Why use this guide

This guide will talk you through the benefits you broadcasting on Facebook as well as the things you need to consider and planning steps you need to carry out before you go live for the first time. 

We offered grants to local Healthwatch to produce guides on how to replicate and adapt engagement approaches that have worked well for them. Thank you to Healthwatch Camden, who produced this guide on how to partner with GP surgeries to use text messaging to reach the public. 

Why use this guide

Learn when this method of digital engagement is appropriate, the difference this approach can make and how Healthwatch Camden successfully used this method during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthwatch Camden have also included a step by step guide of the process together with their top tips for success. 

It is a legal requirement for every local Healthwatch to produce an annual report by 30 June each year. Your annual report must be sent to:

• Healthwatch England
• Care Quality Commission
• NHS England
• Any Clinical Commissioning Group that falls within your local authority area
• The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of your local Authority
• The local authority who commission your service

Templates

The templates have been produced in PowerPoint and InDesign. You can download and use these below, or by visiting the Communications Centre. If you are having trouble accessing the Communications Centre please email hub@healthwatch.co.uk

Support

This year there is lots of support available to help you produce your annual report, including images, graphics and webinars. 

Find out more

Equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the heart of our values. 

As an organisation whose sole purpose is to give a strong and powerful voice to people who often go unheard, the Equality Act serves as the minimum for our work.

This requires public authorities and organisations carrying out public functions to consider steps to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between protected groups and others.

Conducting an Equality Impact Assessment for your engagement or research projects is important to help you show your impact.

It is designed to help you show that when your project outcomes are achieved and recommendations have been implemented that this has lead to increased equality and reduced barriers for protected groups and others who experience discrimination or disadvantage; whilst not inadvertently excluding others.

Technology can make a massive difference to our work if it’s easy to use and useful, but it can also cost a lot of money to get right.

What should Healthwatch invest in?

• Support to help us with volunteer, supplier and stakeholder management?
• Solutions that help us better engage with the public and with each other?
• Systems that streamline and automate our processes?

These are big questions that only you can help answer.

More about our project

We are running a project to see how we can best use digital tools to help support you with your work, and your communications.

Over the next few months, you might hear us talk about the 'Digital Transformation Project'. We're working with an external agency Wildman Herring to find out more about how we work together and what we’re using across the network, to then develop ideas on how we can improve our digital landscape to help us work better together in the future.

Who is doing the research?

We’ve employed some experts to find out what you think and to help come up with a plan about how we can invest in the right technology to make the biggest difference to our work.

Dan Tagg, Professor Matthew Jones and their colleagues from Wildman Herring will be carrying out research from November 2019, with the aim of presenting a final report in the next financial year (2020-21).

What does the research include?

• Survey

• Workshops

• Draft report and roadmap

Take the survey 

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey about your digital needs. 

Tell us your views

When's the deadline?

A quick response is much appreciated as we want to complete the research as soon as possible.

In response, we seconded Nichola Esmond, then Chief Officer with Healthwatch Wakefield, to develop a Quality Framework to provide a shared understanding between Healthwatch providers, local authority commissioners and Healthwatch England of the ingredients of an effective Healthwatch.

The framework consists of six domains:

• Leadership and Governance acknowledges the importance of having clear goals and a rationale for our work priorities, which is vital given our wide remit and challenging resources. Strong leadership and governance help us navigate a complex environment whilst maintaining our independence and accountability.
• The People domain recognises the key resource of Healthwatch: its Board/Advisory Group members, staff and volunteers who need the right knowledge, skills and support to deliver an effective, consistent Healthwatch service.
• Sustainability and Resilience focuses on a business model that enables Healthwatch to plan and operate effectively, as well as adapt to the changing needs of the people we serve.
• The Collaboration domain recognises the value of working collaboratively and in partnership, and of learning from other Healthwatch.
• Engagement, Involvement and Reach focuses on the main statutory activities: how we go about reaching out to all sections of our community, gathering people’s views, providing advice and information and involving people in our work.
• Finally, Influence and Impact focuses on our purpose: the difference we make by ensuring those in charge of health and care services hear people's voices and that their views shape the support they need.

The framework has been designed to be used on a self-assessment basis. Each domain consists of a series of questions and prompts where Healthwatch are asked to comment and provide evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Over the past four months, Healthwatch have been testing the framework. Some have used it as part of their annual review and business planning process, bringing together Board/Advisory group members, staff and volunteers to reflect on and celebrate their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Others have used the opportunity of a new contract to think about what they need to put in place to be effective. There are Healthwatch who have met with their local authority commissioners to use it as part of their contract monitoring process. Some commissioners have specified the use of the Quality Framework in new contracts, having heard our plans for full rollout in 2020/21.

At Healthwatch England we’re looking to develop tools to help you use the framework. First up is the Making a Difference Toolkit, created following a request from local Healthwatch, this has been designed to help you demonstrate the impact you’re making. We also intend to analyse all the completed Quality Frameworks to understand the overall effectiveness of our network, inform our support offer and target our resources. We also plan to design our learning and development offer around the framework, identifying and sharing best practice from the network.

We’re grateful to the Healthwatch and local authorities who have helped develop and test the framework over the last four months. We now want to pilot its implementation and are looking for about 30 Healthwatch to complete the Quality Framework with evidence before March 2020. We will be offering 1-2-1 support to help you complete it, as well as consulting at Conference on any other support you might need.

If you are interested in hearing more or would like to be considered as part of the implementation pilot, please get in touch with your regional manager (Olly Grice, Alvin Kinch or Julie Turner). In the meantime, take a look at this one pager for more information about the Quality Framework.

Find out more