Health and Care White Paper - our response

Responding to Health and Care White Paper which outlines proposals for legislation to make major changes to the way the NHS is organised, Imelda Redmond CBE, national director at Healthwatch England said:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how crucial it is that health and social care services work well together and so we need to build on that. Proposals to strengthen collaboration between services is a step in the right direction and can bring real benefits for patients, address the wider factors of health and support people to live better, healthier lives.

“We support hundreds of thousands of people across the country every year to share about their experiences and views of health and social care. We know the focus on integrating services will be well received by the public who want a more joined up and personalised experience. And so we particularly welcome the commitment to strengthen and assess patient voice at every level of the system– a crucial step towards helping everyone get the care they need, regardless of age, ethnicity and health conditions.   

“There is a lot more detail to work through in the months to come but we look forward to working with the Government on these proposals to ensure the views of patients, service users and the public are used to shape decision making at all levels within the health and care services.”

 

Find out more about the new proposals to join up health and care services here.