Local Healthwatch have welcomed today’s announcement by Ministers that they will not be proceeding with plans to abolish either the Healthwatch network of local patients and public watchdogs or Healthwatch England nationally.
How Yvette Cooper can demonstrate Andy Burnham’s new ways of working in practice.
Government plans to end the existence of an independent voice for patients and service users in health and social care have come under challenging scrutiny this week with the publication of a major new report by the respected think tank, the King’s Fund. Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull, which I chair, has published this response …
On Friday, Ministers announced that they want to scrap Healthwatch, the statutory patients’ and public watchdog for the NHS and social care. This is my response as Chair of Healthwatch Birmingham and Solihull:
Health and social care services in Birmingham are failing to provide the care that many children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) need and deserve, with parents and carers reporting waits of a year or more for assessment and diagnosis, problems getting referrals and a lack of support to help them care for their child. Read …
This is a statement I made in my capacity as Healthwatch Birmingham Chair, which was published on the Healthwatch Birmingham website: Healthwatch Birmingham shares the widespread concerns about Birmingham City Council’s (BCC) decision to close four day centres. Our research underlines how valuable day centres are to the often vulnerable people who use them and their carers. They provide important …
I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.