Imelda Redmond is stepping down after leading Healthwatch England for four and half years
Under Imelda’s leadership Healthwatch has become an ever more effective voice in ensuring that the views and experiences of the public are used to help improve health and social care.
The last four years
During Imelda’s time with the team, she has led the Healthwatch network in:
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Gathering and analysing almost 1.5 million people's experiences of health and social care services.
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Using this insight to generate over 7000 local insight reports to improve how services are designed and delivered
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Helping shape sector defining policy initiatives from the NHS Long Term Plan to the Government’s reforms for social care
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Mobilising our thousands of volunteers and staff during the pandemic to help with everything from the support for those shielding, to ensuring the vaccine roll-out meets the needs of everyone.
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Refreshed its strategy to place an increased emphasis on addressing health inequalities.
With Imelda’s departure, a hunt for new National Director has started.
Healthwatch England was established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which took effect in April 2013. Our role is to gather and champion the views of everyone who uses health and social care services, in order to identify improvements and influence providers' plans.
Imelda Redmond CBE said:
“On a personal note I would like to thank all the brilliant people who make up Healthwatch, the Committee, the staff, the network and volunteers for their dedication in ensuring that patient voice is at the heart of health and social care services.
“It has been a privilege to work with so many compassionate and knowledgeable people on a daily basis. With the COVID-19 pandemic exposing existing health inequalities, particularly amongst many of our ethnic minority communities, our role to work towards more inclusive and equitable care is more important than ever.”
Sir Robert Francis QC, chair of Healthwatch, said:
“Imelda has done an outstanding job transforming Healthwatch into a powerful and independent voice for patients and service users, with the ability to influence local and national policy alike. More people are coming forward to share their experiences of care with us and services are increasingly acting on what they say to make care better.
“With the constant pressures on our resources and the growing demand for our services, particularly as we move towards ICS’s being put on a statutory footing, Imelda has ensured that Healthwatch has continued to be there when it matters.
“I hope Healthwatch’s track record of championing patient voice across the country will inspire candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply for the role. The new National Director will get the unique opportunity to empower more people to speak up about their care, champion improvements and make a real difference to the NHS and social care services communities receive.”
Imelda will remain in post while the recruitment process for her replacement gets underway.
Applications for the role
The deadline to apply is 22 August 2021. Our recruitment page has more details on the role, the job pack and details on how to apply.
