Dissent over patient involvement reforms
pharmafile | August 5, 2011 | News story | Medical Communications | HealthWatch, NHS, patient involvement
The first 75 ‘pathfinders’ have been named in Local HealthWatch, the patient representative organisations due to replace the current local involvement networks (LINks) next year.
They will “champion patients’ views and experiences in the NHS, promote the integration of local services and improve choice for patients through advice and access to information”, the government says.
However Labour has poured scorn on the coalition’s plans to introduce the ‘patients’ champion’ HealthWatch network, saying that NHS reforms “remain in disarray”.
Labour says the Department of Health has been forced to withdraw a consultation on funding for the new organisations, while slashing their budgets to a minimum £20,000, even as this year’s budgets for LINks are cut by 24%
A Department of Health spokesperson quoted in The Guardian said this criticism was “misleading” and health secretary Andrew Lansley insists the new arrangement will give patients a stronger voice.
“Local HealthWatch will give patients and carers a real say over how their local health service is run,” Lansley explained. “They will act as patient champions, drive local involvement in the community and ensure patients understand the choices available to them.”
The idea is that Local HealthWatch provides a collective voice for patients and carers, and will advise the new Clinical Commissioning Groups on how local communities think their services should be run.
“Cambridgeshire LINk has always worked hard to put patients and service users at the forefront of its work,” says its chairman Mike Hewins. “As a HealthWatch Pathfinder, we’ll be able to reach out and work with many more people in Cambridgeshire and ensure that they are fully involved in health and social care in the county.”
But the parliamentary war of words seems likely to continue. “David Cameron’s NHS reforms remain in disarray,” says shadow health secretary John Healey.
“The government has already cut by a quarter the support for local communities and individuals to improve their NHS. Now a further cut to patient involvement is planned,” he went on.
Pressure group the Patients Association has already voiced concerns over HealthWatch, with chief executive Katherine Murphy calling the whole issue of patient engagement “unsatisfactory”.
Her concerns centre on the detail of proposals, for example how specific groups such as the elderly are to be reached and how lay members would be properly trained.
“The public have expressed their deep concerns about value for money and a robust local patient voice,” she said. “Such patient champions cannot work if they are not properly recruited.”
Adam Hill
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