Healthwatch Kirklees Annual Report 2014.15
Our annual report for 2014.15 is out. Fatima Khan Shah Joint Chair of Trustee Board says
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved this year as Healthwatch
Kirklees. The strategy of our Trustee Board has always been not just to listen
to patients, but to focus on helping make changes in the health and social
care system that reflect what patients are saying to us. For us, it is not enough
just to listen, we need to prove to patients that if they tell us their stories,
we can use them to make things better. We are tenacious enough keep going
back until the system responds to patient feedback, which we have termed
“Making Change Happen.”
The stories that you will read in this annual report show clearly and transparently
that patients CAN influence and change the way that health services are
delivered and commissioned in Kirklees. Our work shows that by organising
what patients are saying, by being sensible and credible, by spending time
understanding problems from every angle, by being fair, independent and
transparent, patient views can influence the way that health and social care
services are delivered in Kirklees.
At Healthwatch we recognise that 99% of NHS and social care staff, commissioners
and managers we meet want exactly what we want, a better healthcare
system for everyone. It is our role to work with these professionals to
ensure that they hear and properly consider patient views in creating that
better system.
This constructive and sensible relationship means that we are trusted by NHS
and social care bosses. We are not trying to trip them up, we are showing
them what patients are saying about the services that they receive. It means
that we can have sensible conversations about the challenges patients face,
and how these challenges impact people. It’s necessary that we recognise
those times when the system cannot change, when its under extreme pressure,
and when things happen that are out of everyone’s control. Then when
change is genuinely possible, we can ask for it, because we are credible,
sensible and trusted.
Healthwatch in Kirklees has many different priorities, outcomes and elements,
but our success in representing the views of patients comes from the way
that we all share the same vision, and pull in the same direction. From our
Trustees, to our staff, to our volunteers, our commissioners and our stakeholders,
we work cohesively to bring about change to the health and social care
system.
On behalf of the board, I want to thank everyone for the support that they
have given us this year.”
If you’d like a hard copy of the report, please pop into our offices, ring us on 01924 450379, or send us an email and we’ll send one out in the post. Alternatively, you can download an electronic copy by clicking on the link below.