ECS delivering Healthwatch Solihull received national recognition at the Healthwatch England Network awards in October 2019.
The work done by Healthwatch Solihull has been recognised as ‘Highly commended’ in this year’s Healthwatch Network Awards for in the Outstanding Achievement: NHS Long Term Plan category
Healthwatch Solihull were tasked with gathering 250 survey responses, along with holding two focus groups.
The team set out a plan to explore people views across the whole of Solihull. We attended GP surgeries, spoke on local radio, attended community support groups and ensured we travelled across the whole borough to gather feedback, as well as promoting the survey through our social media platforms.
The team successfully gathered 276 surveys and held two focus groups, one with parent carers and another with a support group for people who were deaf and hard of hearing.
Every year, the Healthwatch Network Awards celebrate the many positive stories of how the local Healthwatch network is helping to make care better for thousands of people. The awards are an opportunity to demonstrate where local Healthwatch worked within the local community to make sure health and social care services meet people’s needs.
Healthwatch listen to what people like about the NHS and social care and what needs to be improved. Their views are shared with health and care professionals, so that services can understand what people and their families want from care.
These awards recognise how people’s feedback is vital to improving services. Thanks to the many hundreds of thousands of people who shared their experiences with Healthwatch last year. This has led to positive changes to the way local health and care services are run.
The local Healthwatch shortlisted for 2019 Healthwatch Network Awards were picked from almost 150 award entries.
The winner and the highly commended from each category were chosen by a panel of external judges and announced last night at the Healthwatch England Annual Conference on 1 October 2019.
Healthwatch Solihull Manager Natalie Travers said: “We were delighted to be recognised as highly commended at the Healthwatch network awards for our work on the NHS Long Term Plan, I’d like to thank Healthwatch Birmingham for their support and work on the project. A massive thank you must also go to our volunteers, advisory board members, and staff team for their hard work on ensuring voices across Solihull were heard. With a short deadline to gather 250 responses, the team worked very hard and gathered 276. We will now continue to work with all of our partners and champion the public voice using the findings from this project.”
Imelda Redmond, CBE, National Director of Healthwatch England said,
“The Healthwatch Network Awards is a fantastic event which showcases the very best of local Healthwatch and it’s an opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate the impact our teams and volunteers have in improving health and care across the country.
The awards demonstrate the breadth of issues local Healthwatch work on every year. Their work makes sure people’s experiences are placed at the heart of the services they receive.
I’d like to acknowledge and thank all the network and congratulate those who took part, they have done their communities proud.”