About us

Healthwatch is the new independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public. Healthwatch will play a role at both national and local level and will make sure that the views of the public and people who use services are taken into account.

Healthwatch can help by:

• making sure people’s views on health and social care are heard, helping people to make improvements in services.
• providing information about local health and social care services that people may find useful.
• ensuring that everyone in our community is able to be involved, and to have their voices heard.

Here is a Video of the national advert

Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire has been commissioned by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council as required by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

During 2012 the Council as part of its planning to commission Local Healthwatch, consulted a wide variety of people and organisations about what Healthwatch should look like. From this the following vision statement was produced.

“Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire will be a well-known, accessible and responsive organisation open to all residents in the East Riding. It will be well managed, and have a strategic approach to delivering its functions through employing both professional staff and engaging active volunteers.”

Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire champions the voice of local people on health and social care services. It replaces and takes on the work of the former East Riding of Yorkshire Local Involvement Network (LINk). Healthwatch will:

• enable people to share their views and concerns about their local health and social care services, helping to build a picture of where services are doing well and where they can be improved.
• ensure that the views and experiences of patients, carers and other service users are taken into account when services are planned and commissioned.
• be able to send trained representatives to enter and view premises where services are delivered.
• be able to alert Healthwatch England, or the Care Quality Commission (CQC), where appropriate, to concerns about specific care providers, health or social care matters.
• provide people with information about what to do when they are unhappy with the service they received. This includes signposting to independent advocacy for NHS complaints.
• signpost people to information about local health and social care services and how to access them.

Healthwatch is for everyone in our community – adults, young people and children. Every voice counts when it comes to shaping the future of services and improving them for today.  Healthwatch will help people get the best out of their local health and social care services.

People often don’t speak up because they don’t think they can make a difference. We know that people can be unaware of the care and support that is out there. People can feel excluded from services and access to services and treatment isn’t always equal. Those who are least able to speak out will be heard through Healthwatch. 

Every voice counts when it comes to shaping the future of health and social care, and when it comes to improving it for today. Everything that Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire does will bring the voice and influence of local people to the development and delivery of local services.

Through our network of volunteers, working with existing voluntary and community groups, and our independent research, we can find out what matters to you most about health and social care. Together, your views and our expertise will help shape improvements for everyone.

We will use the information we gather to spot important local issues and trends. And we will carry out our own research into those issues that need more investigating, working closely with existing voluntary and community groups and the authorities.

As the East Riding of Yorkshire is a large and diverse county, we need to prioritise which issues we focus on. In particular, we want to make sure we represent the voice of the seldom heard, the vulnerable, and those in isolated communities.

Most importantly, we have powers in law which gives us influence. We will feedback what we discover to the authorities who have a legal responsibility to respond and use our findings to shape and improve services and feedback to you on the outcomes. This means you can be reassured that your views really do count.

We’re engaging with people in your community & if you haven’t met us yet, please get in touch!

MNH Meeting New Horizons Community Interest Company has been awarded the contract by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to support the set up and development of Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire. 

Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire is now being set up as an independent Community Interest Company, and will be a social enterprise run by a Strategic Advisory Body (SAB) recruited for their skills and expertise and will have responsibility for delivering the Healthwatch services. The SAB will be supported by a small staff team and will also draw on the support of a pool of volunteers.

The Healthwatch services will be developed over the next few months as we recruit volunteers, appoint staff and set up our SAB.

 The Strategic Advisory Body will lead in:

• Establishing credible and professional relationships across health, social care and the voluntary sector.
• Ensuring that a network of local volunteers is created that is inclusive of all groups, especially those whose voices are seldom heard.
• Influencing local services to be the very best they can be by providing robust evidence to service providers based on user feedback and experience.

The Strategic Advisory Body will agree the Annual Work Plan of health and social care issues to investigate which will be based on specific issues, identified by the wider community. More detailed investigations into these issues will then be conducted by the staff team who will be supported by volunteers that have an interest or expertise in that issue area.

The staff team will gather and analyse evidence on specific issues, conduct wider community engagement and produce a report with recommendations which will be submitted to the Board for approval. The reports and recommendations will then be directed at a variety of audiences including statutory providers, the Health and Wellbeing Board and others with power and influence in the East Riding of Yorkshire.