The Annual Survey is now live
Building a stronger Healthwatch.
What is the annual survey?
Every year, we collect key data from every Healthwatch, which we use to inform how we can best support you, inform our national work and make the case for further investment in Healthwatch.
The data gives us an understanding of what's working on the ground for you, supports new partnerships and collaboration and contributes to the Healthwatch England annual report, which we present to Parliament.
We want all Healthwatch to complete the Annual Survey so we have an accurate picture of the network.
Deadline for completion
Please complete the survey, which should take around 30 minutes, before Monday 30 September.
The survey is available on SmartSurvey.
Please note that when completing the survey with your data, you will have the option to save and continue later.
The annual survey is for data up to and inc 31 March 2024.
You can prepare your answers in advance, and the questions are available to download in PDF format, using the link below.
Downloads
Annual Survey 2024 - questions template to download
Conversations about impact - your perspectives
In this six-minute read, Jon Turner talks with four Healthwatch leaders who have worked with their teams to develop a strong approach to impact.
Over the first few months of 2024, I talked to four local Healthwatch leaders about their approach to achieving impact. Some key themes emerged from what they told me.
The leaders were:
- Joanna Smith, Manager of Healthwatch Isle of Wight, who has been with the Healthwatch for almost ten years.
- Joy Beishon, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Greenwich, who has been in the service for five years.
- Diane Blair, Manager of Healthwatch Sefton, who has been in the service since its inception.
- Amy Salt, Engagement and Involvement Manager at Healthwatch Derbyshire, who has been in post for just over one year.
Theme 1: Our Healthwatch team believes that we exist to achieve change for local people.
Joanna: The nature of our area means the team are very aware of being accountable to residents, as people we know often ask us what we’ve achieved.
It’s so important to ensure the team has a wide outlook so that not only can they talk and engage with people, but they can also analyse what they’re hearing, spot trends and report in a way that encourages solutions.
Joy: Our team is focused on achieving tangible improvements and fostering greater equity for our residents. We recognise that our role is not just about gathering insights but translating those insights into real, actionable change. This means we are constantly analysing feedback and insight, identifying trends, and advocating for solutions that directly address the needs and concerns of our community.
Diane: The team shifted its view of who we are accountable to. Instead of seeing our main responsibility as being to provide system partners with insight, we now focus more on ensuring that residents’ insight shared with system partners is acted on and that residents are then updated with any actions and/or changes.
If a member of the public asks what we’ve achieved, we shouldn’t struggle to give a clear answer!
Amy: We know how important it is to close the loop. Going out and collecting feedback is just one element of what we do. It’s vital that we maintain strong relationships by informing the public about what’s happened with their feedback. This encourages people to keep speaking with us and view us as reputable and purposeful.
Theme 2: We see reports and recommendations as a means to an end.
Joanna: Engagement activities are essential and can be really fulfilling. They’re backed up by report writing. But all that’s only meaningful if we then try our hardest to use what we’ve got to seek improvements.
Joy: It's much easier to write a report and then move on. The real challenge — and where we can make a difference — is in the follow-up and ensuring that our recommendations lead to actual change. This means not just identifying areas for improvement but actively engaging with stakeholders, advocating for our recommendations, and tracking the implementation process.
We tailor our approach to gain leverage depending on the context and the needs of the issue at hand. Our reports are the starting point of a larger journey towards improvement, not the endpoint.
Diane: In the past, our ethos was that responsibility stopped at the point of producing our report. We worked in a way that assumed that recommendations would be picked up and didn’t do much follow-up to check what happened. We saw this as the Healthwatch role and seamlessly moved on to the next piece of work. Now, the team make more space at meetings to plan for outcomes, and we have systems in place to follow up.
Amy: By using Theory of Change in our planning we can agree how to make best use of reports and other approaches to take forward particular themes. Sometimes for example we’ll decide we’re more likely to achieve outcomes by making a direct connection with a service commissioner, producing a guide or infographic, or feeding raw data into an external strategy that’s already in development.
Theme 3: We’ve put a lot of time into developing an approach to influencing that works in our local context.
Joanna: We’ve gained agreement that all reports go to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and they require providers and commissioners to report back. This not only helps achieve outcomes but also evidence them.
At the start of a piece of work, we get buy-in by hearing what all interested parties think and want to know. We see part of our role as being to link service users and decision-makers together to create solutions. We find this is much more likely to lead to useful outcomes being implemented.
Whilst we sit on the highest-level committees and groups, we understand that these are for relationship building and to be seen as a partner. The real achievements are gained at meetings and groups a tier below those.
Joy: We do our best to ensure that key decision-makers fully grasp the importance of our role and the connections we maintain with various parts of the system, including the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It’s important for our stakeholders to understand our statutory right to publish information and our duty to maintain transparency with the public. We always make it clear that our intent is to support and improve the system.
Some stakeholders occasionally perceive our relationship as somewhat adversarial, but we remind them of our role as a critical friend to provide constructive feedback aimed at driving positive change. We emphasise that while our findings may sometimes be challenging to hear, they are crucial for fostering improvement and that we are committed to working together and supporting the system to find solutions.
Diane: We always aim to make our positive intent clear to system partners. We explain at the start of a piece of work that they might not like everything they hear later on, but Healthwatch will work with them to find solutions, too. We also ask them what they’d find useful from a planned piece of work.
We send any reports to the most senior system partners and leave it to them to cascade down their own organisation as appropriate. They seem to appreciate this and maybe it even gives them a rare chance to find out what’s really happening on the ground.
Amy: Once we’ve decided on a project, we ensure we form strong connections with providers, commissioners and any other groups involved in relevant decision-making. Once we have their "buy-in", we discuss what could be changed, potential information they’d be interested in knowing about and what’s already been done. They can help co-produce the piece of work with us. It’s then much easier to follow up with them later about changes that have been achieved.
If attempts to get the provider on board with the project don’t succeed, then we decide as a team whether we’ll do the project or not. We might decide it’s important enough to go ahead anyway. However, it can be harder to get outcomes this way.
Theme 4: We’re careful to maintain our sense of independence.
Joanna: We’re very strict on avoiding any situations that might call into question our independence and impartiality. It’s important to be beyond reproach.
Joy: We find that participating in 'top table' meetings is highly effective. These forums allow us to be seen as trusted and safe participants in critical discussions that we might otherwise be excluded from. However, it's crucial to remain vigilant and not become overly enamoured with the prestige of interacting at a senior level just for the sake of it. Our primary focus is always on the value we bring to these discussions. We continually assess the purpose and productivity of our involvement, which means not hesitating to step back from meetings that do not serve a clear, beneficial purpose for our objectives.
Diane: Over time, I've become more motivated by the insight I'm bringing to a senior meeting rather than a bit flattered just to be there. If a meeting isn’t a good use of time in some way, then we’ll stop attending.
Amy: We’re clear about our independence in all our work. System partners regularly tell us that’s why they value our feedback - because we tend to get a more honest response from the public.
At engagement events, we make it clear to people that we’re independent and are there to give them a route for feedback. This is even more important when people haven’t been able to reach a provider themselves or don’t feel listened to.
Theme 5: We use Healthwatch England resources.
Joanna: The Impact Tracker has hugely developed our approach to following up.
Joy: The Impact Tracker is an invaluable tool for our team. It's increased our ability to follow up on projects and track progress. However, its effectiveness hinges on having someone in the team responsible for consistently populating and updating it.
The Annual Report template has hugely improved over the past few years. It’s now more outcome-focused and makes us think even more about tangible results and impact.
Diane: The training on impact and theory of change was a turning point for the team, making everyone stop and rethink who they were accountable to and what the point of Healthwatch work was. It wasn’t an easy shift of mindset at the start, but is now business as usual.
Our communications about our work used to be more of a descriptive narrative about the process, but we now concentrate much more on what's been achieved.
Amy: The theory of change training allowed our team to think about how we approach new pieces of work. Using this makes a big difference, not only with outcomes and impact but also by ensuring the team all share an understanding of the purpose of a piece of work.
A huge thanks to all four for taking the time to share their valuable perspectives and insights with me.
A discussion with your own Healthwatch team about the points covered here could be interesting. Do let me know if you do that and what conclusions you reach.
Jon.
Harnessing the power of digital and data
You might have noticed the work we've done to improve our digital systems in the last few years, so what's next? Our Deputy Chief Executive, Chris McCann, discusses our digital and data plans.
With your help, we have substantially changed our digital systems in the last two years.
Progress so far
With a focus on data security and ensuring that our systems are easy to use, we:
- We replaced an outdated CRM with a new platform that enables every local Healthwatch to share data with us.
- Introduced Smart Survey – an enterprise-level tool you can access for free to help with data collection.
- Upgraded over 100 Drupal websites we provide to local Healthwatch.
- Revamped our advice and guidance to help you handle your data securely and introduced a new data-sharing agreement.
We have invested significant resources which have had a significant impact. For example, the number of local Healthwatch regularly sharing data with us has more than doubled, from 50 Healthwatch in 2019 to over 120 today.
Where next?
But we can't stand still. To provide you with the best support, we need to innovate and consider rapid advances in digital and data. We also need to make the most of our resources.
This is why we commissioned a specialist digital agency to help shape our digital strategy and sought input from you and various external stakeholders. We also asked several questions in our annual survey of local Healthwatch.
Short-term changes
Thanks to your feedback in our annual survey, we already have several changes in the pipeline:
- From later this year, you'll be able to access our web form data via the Central Data Store. You'll also be able to access people's contact details if they want to share them.
- By September, we aim to have every local Healthwatch share their data with us.
- We'll also make improvements so uploading your data to the central data store is easier.
- We're also going to improve the network site and look at new systems to make collaborating and finding resources easier. For example, we'll find a new alternative to Workplace.
In the longer term
In the Autumn, we plan to publish our new digital strategy. As well as setting out the near-term steps we will take, our strategy will also:
- Outline skills required within Healthwatch England to deliver on our vision for digital and data.
- Deliver the support needed for local Healthwatch, setting out a roadmap of digital delivery and critical milestones.
- Identify potential uses of emerging technology to support our work.
- Ensure our systems are user-friendly, sustainable, and resilient.
Have you got a question?
If you have any thoughts or ideas about our digital strategy, please don't hesitate to get in touch via digital@healthwatch.co.uk
Helping us to help you - what the Satisfaction Survey told us
In a new blog, Gavin Macgregor, Head of Network Development, highlights the key findings from our recent Satisfaction Survey and how we're acting on your feedback.
Each year, we ask local Healthwatch to tell us about the support we provide and how we can improve via the Satisfaction Survey.
This year we changed the methodology from asking individual staff, volunteers and board members to asking each Healthwatch to rate our support via one co-ordinated response to get a fuller picture across the network.
Therefore the results of this year’s survey are not directly comparable to previous years’ results. However, we have included last year’s results where the questions were worded in the same way.
Below we set out what you said and what we’ll be doing.
Overall findings
Almost all Healthwatch (96%) responded and we were very pleased that 74% of Healthwatch rate our support as positive, with a further 21% having mixed views.
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Overall support to the network
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Positive |
74% |
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Mixed |
21% |
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Negative |
2% |
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Don’t know/not sure |
3% |
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We appreciate that delivering our support is in the context of Healthwatch under significant financial constraints and increasing demands, including from ourselves, such as the successful introduction of new digital and data systems and processes.
Areas where you noticed improvement included:
- People felt webinars, training sessions, toolkits and guidance were better fitted to what they needed and filled gaps.
- People felt that communications had improved
- People felt that Healthwatch England was becoming more collaborative and listening more to Healthwatch.
- People praised individuals/teams/projects, including regional managers, the policy team and the digital and data sharing project
- People praised face-to-face meetings and the leadership conference
Areas for improvement
The survey is our key method for gathering suggestions for improvement from you of course, and there were some common themes to emerge. Some of these suggestions are detailed below, together with how we plan to act on them.
Theme one
You said:
You want access to a digest of information from our data store which would make requests to share data more meaningful
We're doing:
- We will introduce new ways for Healthwatch to compare your local data with other areas
- We have introduced a new report on how we have used Healthwatch insight in our national work. The first such report is here.
Theme two
You said:
Improve communication, two -way dialogue and reduce information overload.
We're doing:
- We’ll review our communication channels to ensure consistent messaging and streamline our communications.
- We provide Healthwatch with the Look Ahead – what's coming up in the next three months.
- We are revamping the network website to make it easier for Healthwatch to always find our key messages.
- We use our peer networks (eg Lead Officers, Chairs and Boards and regional meetings) together with Workplace to engage with Healthwatch.
- We keep our surveys of the network to twice a year.
Theme three
You said:
Better consultation with Healthwatch on our national priorities and longer lead-in times for campaigns and requests to gather data.
We're doing:
- We’ve set our process for determining our priorities, which includes consideration of the data, reports and priorities of local Healthwatch.
- We’ll consider how we can best co-ordinate priority setting with local Healthwatch, including syncing business planning cycles as part of our work on developing the Healthwatch model.
Theme four
You said:
More training sessions as some sessions are booked up quickly and more face-to-face training.
We're doing:
- We regularly have no-shows, so we will emphasise the importance of cancellation and consider when reviewing our digital systems.
- We’ll review popular sessions and consider within constraints of budget and staff capacity of repeating sessions.
Theme five
You said:
Requests for more support on collaborative working between Healthwatch on shared themes, demographics, roles.
We're doing:
- Following the annual survey in September, we will connect Healthwatch working on similar priorities.
- We have a programme of work to support Healthwatch collaboration and facilitate nine peer networks. We will ask Healthwatch for ideas on how we can better support collaboration.
- We must replace our network intranet, Workplace, which provides an opportunity to review how we can best support Healthwatch collaboration.
Theme six
You said:
Respondents wanted a better understanding of the diversity of the network.
We're doing:
- For the first time, we published 'The Healthwatch Network: A National Picture of Key Trends'. This highlights improving impact reporting and data sharing, variation means it's hard to compare activity levels.
- We also published a report on annual funding for individual Healthwatch, which highlights significant variation across the network.
Thank you
We would like to extend a huge thanks to you for completing the survey. It really is vital that we understand what’s working and what could be improved or added to our support offer on a timely basis.
And while we can’t always put in place everything you’d like to see straight away, I hope the above shows that we’re committed to acting on your feedback and continually improving our support offer to you.
Pre-election guidance: How to remain impartial
Everything you need to know about how to remain impartial during the pre-election period ahead of the general election.
About this resource
In the run up to the national Government election, it is critical that all members of the Healthwatch network continue to act in a politically neutral way. This resource aims to give you the information you need to remain impartial during the pre-election period.
This resource includes:
- Important points for you, your board and operational team to consider when it comes to the pre-election period.
- The guidance covers publications, media and social media activity, as well as working in partnership.
- Information on how we will be operating during this period.
Key things to remember
What is the ‘pre-election period of sensitivity’?
This is the period of time before an election when public authorities are limited in what they can do. This is to ensure that they are not seen to favour one political group or interest or seen to compete with election candidates for public attention.
What this means for you
- All members of the Healthwatch network continue to act in a politically neutral manner.
- You should not undertake any activity that could call into question your politically impartiality or that could give rise to criticism that public resources are being used for political party purposes.
- You will need to carefully consider and make a judgement about the work you have planned for this period. In particular, consider how activity may be perceived in light of campaigning taking place. You should continue to operate as usual and carry out day-to-day activities but be aware of the heightened sensitivity.
- You must not engage in, or advocate for, any party-political activities during this period.
- You should discuss with your board and operational team how you plan to conduct your communications and external engagement during this time. We would also urge your operational team to have a discussion with your local authority commissioner to establish if there will be any specific guidance during this period that the local authority will expect local Healthwatch to comply with.
- There is a shared responsibility across the network to ensure all local Healthwatch act to uphold the reputation of the Healthwatch brand. Therefore, operating in the spirit of the official guidance will help you to avoid compromising your impartiality or reputation.
When does the period of sensitivity start?
The guidance for the general election on 4 July 2024 has been published and comes into effect from 00.01am on 25 May 2024.
This will remain in place until after the election is finished.
Implications for staff and board members
- Staff and / or board members may be involved in elections as supporters of political groups or as candidates. In these cases, it is important that they ensure that this is done in their own time and that they do not use any Healthwatch resources to support this activity.
- Healthwatch will also need to ensure that they are not used in a way that might be seen as supporting any campaigning activity.
- If any board members or staff are involved in canvassing, careful consideration should be given about their role in any public-facing activity during this period. You should consider whether a different person can take part in the activity or whether it can be postponed until after the election.
It will be important to remind your board members and staff about your code of conduct and / or your conflict of interest policy so that they are clear about their responsibilities.
Consultation and engagement
“Promoting, and supporting, the involvement of people in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of local care services” is a statutory function of Healthwatch and can be continued during this period.
You will need to consider the implications of how this is carried out and may need to adapt your approach to assure that you maintain your impartiality.
Whatever work you are undertaking, it is expected that it should not draw attention away from the election, so you should be careful about how you publicise any engagement activity, even if the subject is not contentious.
Regular, continuous and on-going surveys may continue. Ad hoc surveys and other forms of research that are directly related to and in support of a continuing statistical series may also continue. Ad hoc surveys and other forms of research that may give rise to controversy or be related to an election issue should be postponed.
Publications
During this period, you may still be undertaking Enter and View visits and you may want to continue to publish reports on those activities. Material that would normally be considered objective and impartial may well be seen as political and attract criticism in these highly sensitive periods, so you should consider each report separately and whether publication can be postponed until after the election.
Annual reports
The statutory requirement for your annual report is “provision requiring each such report to be prepared by 30th June after the end of the financial year concerned.”
We therefore recommend that:
- You prepare and finish your annual report by the 30 June.
- You do not publish, promote, or send out your annual report until after the general election.
We recommend you get in touch with your local authority commissioners ahead of the deadline to inform them of your approach and let them know the annual report publication will be delayed due to the pre-election guidance and when they can expect to receive it from you.
Social media
As ever, in your capacity as a Healthwatch representative, be careful not to issue any personal opinions on social media platforms, for example Twitter and Facebook, or make any comments from your Healthwatch account that could lead you into a political debate.
Updating the public with essential factual information may continue but avoid offering additional comment or opinion. Candidates and supporters may ask directly about local Healthwatch’s work, and any comment you make should be purely factual rather than expressing an opinion.
Do not retweet tweets from a political or campaigning organisation that is advocating party political positions, or from a local figure who is standing for election.
Consider removing any applications that share content automatically to your social media channels during the election period.
Paid for social media
The guidance from the cabinet office is that all new campaigns must be postponed, and live campaigns are to be paused across all advertising and marketing channels.
Media
It is possible for comments made to the media to be taken out of context or misinterpreted and used in a way that could call into question your political impartiality or that of your local Healthwatch.
If you are contacted during the pre-election period of sensitivity, you should direct journalists to material already in the public domain – such as previous statements or reports that you have released on issues.
Avoid offering additional comment or opinion, and if a journalist asks questions directly about Healthwatch, any comment you make should reflect previously published materials. This will be important if the journalist is fact-checking something said by a candidate, as you may be perceived as being critical of that candidate.
Journalists will often be working on a short timescale and will want a quick response. Don’t be rushed into saying something before you have had time to think about your response. It can be better not to respond at all than being pushed into saying something that does not accurately reflect your views.
Any specific requests for new or unpublished materials should be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
Website content
Updating the public with essential factual information may continue, but blogs or website content that comment on Government policies or proposals should not be updated or published until after the general election.
Websites and social media channels are likely to be scrutinised closely by news media during the election period. All content published much be carefully considered and stick to facts without offering an opinion, even on topics that are not considered controversial.
Events
The guidance states that officials should decline invitations to events where they might be asked to respond on questions about future Government policy or matters of public controversy.
We therefore recommend you carefully consider any speaking engagements your staff or board members attend during the pre-election period.
Partnerships
Public sector organisations will be aware of the limitations imposed by the period of pre-election sensitivity, but partners from other sectors may not.
Check that any partnership activity that you are associated with takes account of the heightened sensitivity. For example, if a campaigning organisation wants to launch a report that you have collaborated on, you will need to be assured that it will not be seen as supporting a particular political group or candidate either directly or indirectly.
Our approach
We are subject to the guidance issued by the Cabinet Office which applies to all Government departments and arm’s length bodies.
During this time, we will continue with our day-to-day business of supporting you and taking forward our projects.
However, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, we will reduce our public-facing activities, including declining invitations to speak at events, pausing all paid digital marketing and media activity.
We will carefully consider how the work we carry out may be perceived and think through potential implications before carrying out any activity.
Further advice
If you want further guidance, please consult the Cabinet Office guidance for public bodies. The Local Government Association also produces guidance on the pre-election period.
Do you have a question?
If you have a question or would like to discuss any concerns, you can talk to a member of our policy team
The diversity of our network: Summary of findings of the Healthwatch People Diversity Survey
In a new blog and report, Gavin Macgregor, Head of Network Development, highlights the new insights we have been able to glean into Healthwatch boards, volunteers, and staff thanks to our new People Diversity Survey.
Our recent exploration of shared values highlighted equity as a core principle of Healthwatch. The trust of our communities, essential for people sharing their experiences of health and care with us, depends on our ability to mirror the diversity of those we serve, thus nurturing a sense of inclusion.
Our work and decision-making thrive on diverse perspectives. Over the past few years, we have embarked on a journey to embrace equality, diversity, equity and inclusion (EDEI) in our work. Key steps on this journey are set out below.
One of our commitments has been to understand the diversity among our staff, volunteers, and board members across our network and to assess whether our actions are driving positive change.
Thanks to everyone for completing the Healthwatch People Diversity Survey, which gives us a fuller picture of the network's diversity and indicates an emerging commitment to diversity - one element of our shared value of equity as a network.
Downloads
Read our full report on the Healthwatch People Diversity Survey
Steps on our EDEI journey so far include:
2019 Healthwatch England committed to quarterly reporting on our actions to address EDEI across our work.
2020 Joy Beishon, seconded from Healthwatch Greenwich, led work on equity, diversity and inclusion across the network. This included holding conversations with Healthwatch, identifying positive examples of Healthwatch activity across protected characteristics and groups facing inequalities and the introduction of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Peer Network, which continues to meet.
2021 We launched a pilot to collect board diversity information, but we received a low response rate.
2022 The first national survey of Healthwatch diversity was conducted, but a low response rate hindered analysis. The board development organisation Getting on Board provided support to Healthwatch boards on recruitment and diversity.
2024 The second national diversity survey was conducted on Healthwatch staff, boards and volunteers.