A patient champion has said his organisation is working to make sure voices are heard when decisions are made over threatened accident and emergency and maternity units.

Healthwatch Surrey took over from Surrey Local Involvement Network (Surrey LINk) as the new ‘consumer champion’ to improve health and social care at the start of April.

Richard Davy, executive director at Healthwatch, said they recently met with a representative from the Better Services Better Value (BSBV) review, which has recommended the closure of A&E and maternity units at Epsom Hospital.

Mr Davy said: "We made it very clear to them that they need to be clear in their communications and information they are putting across.

"The views about the future of Epsom Hospital need to be looked at in the context of Surrey."

Mr Davy said BSBV needs to release detailed, clear information on how losing A&E and maternity units will impact people’s lives on the ground.

He said: "For example what does ‘urgent care centre’ mean? We need to specify these things in black and white. I think it’s still very jargonistic and needs to be broken down to a personal level. What does it mean to me?"

He said the impact of possible closures on individuals, such as how people will get home from hospital, needs to be examined in more detail.

Mr Davy is executive officer at disability charity Surrey Independent Living Council (SILC), which is one of three organisations running Healthwatch Surrey.

SILC is engaging with the community, recruiting volunteers and liaising with Clinical Commissioning Groups and health and social care providers.

Help and Care, a charity working with elderly people and carers, is collating information about patients and carers and feedback from other sources to identify trends.

 

Meanwhile 12 Citizens Advice Bureaux across Surrey have a Healthwatch Champion to signpost people towards health and social care services.

Norma Corkish, former chair of Citizens Advice Service Surrey, and Marianne Storey, director of development of Help and Care, are executive directors of Healthwatch Surrey.

The organisation is currently appointing a chairman and four non-executive directors to join the board.

Richard Davy said Healthwatch has an annual budget of £504,000 and it is their job to listen to people and put their views across to decision makers.

Mr Davy said: "It’s about being the bridge between people who use the services and the people responsible for organising and providing those services.

"As the voice of 1.3 million people in Surrey, health and social care commissioners and providers ignore that voice at their peril. If we bring something up they need to take that on board because that is what people are saying."

Healthwatch Surrey is funded through a contract with Surrey County Council and is part of the Healthwatch England national network.

It has a seat on the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board and can alert Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to concerns about services.

Over past weeks the Healthwatch Surrey team has visited high streets, shopping centres, train stations, hospitals and GP surgeries across Surrey to raise awareness about its role.

To raise your concerns about health and social care call Healthwatch on 0303 303 0023, send a text message to 07592 787 533 or email enquiries@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk.

Alternatively pop into any of the Citizens Advice Bureaux in Surrey or visit www.healthwatchsurrey.co.uk.

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