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.

Our work is driven by the belief that understanding local people’s experiences of health and care is key to providing effective support. A belief that is backed up by a considerable body of evidence.

We have been set up to find out the public’s views on health and care.

How we achieve this goal may vary from area to area but, whatever our approach, every Healthwatch is committed to making a difference.

Why showing impact matters

Demonstrating that we are making a difference is key because:

• It shows local people 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 we recommend and what the public has told us
• It demonstrates to taxpayers and our funders that we provide value for money and our work is worthy of investment.

Who is this toolkit for?

Healthwatch staff or volunteers who:

• Want to improve their knowledge and understanding of Theory of Change
• Are involved in helping their Healthwatch establish an approach to evidencing and communicating your impact

What will you learn?

This toolkit aims to deliver the following learning:

• Why demonstrating impact is important
• An introduction to outcomes and the Theory of Change
• Setting priorities and how they link to outcomes
• Steps you need to take to develop your a Theory of Change
• How you might use a Theory of Change to communicate effectively
• How to involve your board, volunteers and other colleagues

About this resource

Healthwatch have a legal power to visit health and social care services and see them in action. This power to Enter and View services offers a way for Healthwatch to meet some of their statutory functions and allows them to identify what is working well with services and where they could be improved.

This guide aims to provide guidance to Healthwatch on their power to Enter and View health and care services. It includes recommended practice based on learning from the Healthwatch Network.

It includes: 

• Where Enter and View can take place
• Who can carry out an Enter and View visit
• Key questions to ask covering the different stages of Enter and View
• Responding to reports and recommendations

About this resource

A business continuity plan helps ensure that business process can continue during a time of emergency or disaster. For example, the building has no power, staff are unable to get in due to adverse weather conditions, there is an emergency meaning all staff should stay home, or there is a key system failure .

We have developed a template that you can use to create your own business continuity plan. The template highlights key bits of information that you should include to ensure that your organisation is ready and able to respond to situations when they arise such as:

• Key staff members contact details
• Critical suppliers contact details
• Key actions that should take place to prevent risk to the business and staff