As a firm dedicated to upholding patient rights and securing justice for those harmed by medical negligence, we have been following closely the developments regarding the UK Government’s recent announcement of the proposed abolition of Healthwatch England and the extensive network of local Healthwatch organisations. While framed as a move to streamline bureaucracy, this decision risks removing a vital “tool” for patient advocacy and services regulation, potentially creating a disconnect that could have serious implications for patient safety and, consequently, a rise in medical negligence claims.
What does Healthwatch do?
For over a decade, Healthwatch has served as the independent champion for patients and service users across England. Its unique mandate allows it to:
- Amplify patient voices: Healthwatch actively gathers feedback from individuals, families, and communities about their experiences of health and social care services, from GP practices to hospitals and care homes. This critical ground-level intelligence often brought to light systemic issues that might otherwise remain hidden.
- Hold services to account: Equipped with statutory powers, Healthwatch can challenge providers, make recommendations for improvement, and ensure that patient concerns were heard by those in positions of power, including Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local authorities.
- Bridge the gap: Crucially, Healthwatch acted as a bridge between patients and the often-complex healthcare system, providing essential information, advice, and signposting to help people navigate their care pathways and understand their rights.
What is being proposed and what are the concerns?
The government’s new 10-Year Health Plan proposes to absorb Healthwatch’s functions into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with patient feedback largely driven through digital platforms like the NHS App and a new National Director of Patient Experience within the DHSC. While digital feedback has its place, a great part of the UK population is still not comfortable accessing services through the internet. Vulnerable individuals, the elderly, those with limited digital literacy, non-English speakers, and those without smartphone access will find their voices silenced. Healthwatch’s ability to conduct outreach and engage directly with diverse communities ensured that the experiences of all people, particularly the most marginalised, were heard. Without this, existing health inequalities could worsen. Many local Healthwatch projects in recent years have focused on tackling health inequality so the risk of “undoing” some of the good work that has gone into reaching groups and getting their needs heard, seems material.
The core strength of Healthwatch lies in its independence from direct NHS and governmental control. This allows it to speak truth to power without fear of reprisal, flagging deficiencies and advocating for improvements even when uncomfortable. Bringing this function “in-house” risks limiting genuine feedback and creating a conflict of interest, where the very bodies responsible for service delivery are also responsible for scrutinising their own performance. This could lead to a less transparent system where critical issues are overlooked or downplayed.
Local Healthwatch organisations possessed invaluable community knowledge, understanding the unique challenges and needs of their specific areas. They were often the first port of call for individuals experiencing issues and could quickly identify patterns of concern. Transferring these functions to broader governmental or ICB structures risks diluting this local insight, making it harder to address problems at their source and hold local providers to account effectively.
All the above indicates that there is a true risk that patient concerns will be less heard and that issues impacting local services will become less visible to those capable of addressing them on the ground. The removal of an independent “early warning system” like Healthwatch could mean that issues are not identified and rectified promptly, leading to a greater incidence of avoidable harm. In such cases, impacted individuals whose lives have been turned upside down by a preventable medical mistake will find themselves with limited options of seeking justice and preventing what happened to them from being repeated outside of making a legal claim.
A truly patient-centred NHS requires not just efficiency, but also robust, independent oversight and genuine channels for patient concerns to be heard and acted upon. Without Healthwatch, patients may find themselves disarmed of a critical tool, leaving them more vulnerable and potentially increasing the need for legal intervention to secure the justice they deserve.
How can we help?
Our firm remains steadfast in its commitment to representing those who have suffered due to medical negligence. If you or a family member have concerns about the medical care received we may be able to help you. Fill in our contact form or call us for free on 0800 044 8488 to have a confidential discussion, tell us what happened and what your worries are so we can help you get answers. All discussions are free of charge. If we can support you in making a claim and you choose to go ahead with it we will explore with you funding options that can include using your legal expenses insurance if you have one or making a “no win no fee agreement”.
