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Healthwatch Torbay Annual Report 2015/16
Healthwatch Torbay 3
Contents
Message from our Chair ................................................................................ 4
Message from our Chief Executive ................................................................... 5
The year at a glance .................................................................................... 6
Who we are ............................................................................................... 7
Listening to people who use health and care services ........................................... 9
Giving people advice and information ............................................................ 13
How we have made a difference ................................................................... 15
Our work in focus ..................................................................................... 19
A Trustee’s perspective .............................................................................. 20
A service-user perspective .......................................................................... 21
An organisational perspective ...................................................................... 22
Information and advice .............................................................................. 24
Our plans for next year .............................................................................. 25
Future priorities ....................................................................................... 26
Our people .............................................................................................. 27
Involving local people in our work ................................................................. 28
A Volunteer Story ..................................................................................... 29
Our finances ............................................................................................ 30
Our Financial Report ................................................................................. 31
Contact us .............................................................................................. 32
Healthwatch Torbay 4
Message from our Chair
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the
Healthwatch Torbay Annual Report 2016.
Healthwatch Torbay has gone from strength
to strength since being ‘born’ in April 2013.
From acquiring a purpose-built walk in
centre at Paignton Library (which we share
with Torbay Carers Service) and receiving
official registered charity status (Registered
Charity Number 1153450), through to
electing a full Board of Directors and
launching the South West’s first online ‘rate
& review’ system of its kind, we have seen
public health & social care feedback rise.
We have been passing on these views to
partners such as local health trusts and the
South Devon and Torbay Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG), and
championing our report recommendations on
various local boards.
We not only celebrated surpassing the 1000
review mark on our online rate & review
system, but can now boast 1300 reviews -
meaning we have over 1% of the Torbay
population represented online.
We can now boast 1300
reviews, meaning we have over
1% of the Torbay population
represented online.
This year we have recruited more and more
volunteers to help gather this feedback. A
strong collaborative approach with our local
partners has ensured that they helped
promote and support us, whilst sharing their
own information. Against the backdrop of
limited resources and insecurities over
funding Healthwatch Torbay, with the
support of the Trustees, staff and
volunteers, has managed to deliver its aims
and objectives.
In a personal development, I was also
appointed to the position of Chair of the
Clinical Senate Citizens’ Assembly for the
South West. The Citizens’ Assembly is
committed to ensuring that patients, Carers
and family members, of all ages and
backgrounds, are an integral part of the
vision and active partners in the Senate’s
programme of work.
I hope this report provides you with a wide-
ranging update on the work that has been
undertaken by Healthwatch Torbay over the
past year, how we have engaged with the
community, the intelligence we have
gathered, and how we have used this data to
help improve local health & social care
services.
Dr Kevin Dixon,
Healthwatch Torbay Chair
Healthwatch Torbay 5
Message from our Chief Executive
Hello all and welcome to our third
Healthwatch Torbay annual report.
It’s been an extremely busy and very
exciting year for us. The Healthwatch team
and our volunteers have done a wonderful job
at gathering public views and experiences and
helping us really make a name for ourselves
in Torbay.
This year saw the steady growth of our
online ‘rate & review’ system and its roll out
across the South West region via other local
Healthwatch.
The feedback centre has since provided
detailed qualitative feedback about Health
and Social Care providers across the South
West region that can be benchmarked
instantly and provide each local
Healthwatch with the ability to spot trends,
patterns and safeguarding opportunities in
order to improve services.
We have branched out further into the community this year, with a dedicated events and
engagement team allowing a lot more consultation directly with
the public.
We have reached out further into the
community this year, with a dedicated
events and engagement team allowing a
great deal more consultation with the
public, leading to increased detailed
feedback on local services. So much so that
our engagement events and drop in sessions
have now become our main source of public
feedback, surpassing our website, calls,
emails, and walk-ins put together.
This report will go into much greater detail
on the exciting goings on at Healthwatch
Torbay in 2015/16, but suffice to say our
main duty - to gather public opinion on local
health & social care and to pass on to
commissioners recommendations to improve
quality – continues to flourish. With
everyone working together to share
feedback and tackle issues, we can make
Torbay’s health and social care provision the
envy of commissioners nationwide, and a
beacon of best practice and partnership
working.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all
staff, volunteers, partners and stakeholders
for all their hard work this year.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy our Annual
Report for 2015-2016.
Pat Harris,
CEO Healthwatch Torbay
Healthwatch Torbay 6
The year at a glance
This year we’ve reached
2500
people on
social
media
Our volunteers help us with
everything
from admin
& events to
marketing
& talks
We’ve spent over 6000
hours working on our top
priorities this
year
We’ve visited a large
number of local services
Our reports have tackled
issues from Community
Services
to Mental
Health
We’ve met hundreds of
local people at our
community
events
Healthwatch Torbay 7
Who we are
We exist to help make health and care
services work for the people who use
them.
Everything we say and do is informed by
local people. Our sole focus is on
understanding the needs, experiences
and concerns of all people who use
services and to speak out on their behalf.
We are uniquely placed as a national
network, with a local Healthwatch in
every local authority area in England.
Our role is to ensure that local decision
makers and health and care services put
the experiences of people at the heart of
their work.
We believe that asking people more
about their experiences can identify
issues that, if addressed, will make
services better.
Our priorities
Healthwatch Torbay has now been up and
running since April 2013 as the Bay’s
independent consumer champion. We
gather and represent the views of the
public in order to influence improvements
in Health and Care service provision and
share good practice.
Based on the local intelligence we have
gathered, and guided by strategic
Healthwatch priorities identified by the
Department of Health, we have decided to
focus our efforts in 2016/17 on the
following areas:
1. Increasing our work with the public
to involve them in how their local
health and social care services are run.
2. Helping the public to understand how
to access and make best use of their
local health and social services.
3. Establishing good working
relationships and strong networks with
all providers of patient and service
user advocacy alongside local
stakeholders.
We will focus on these areas in line with
our core functions, which continue to be:
Gathering views and understanding the experiences of people who use services, Carers and the wider community
Making people’s views known
Supporting the involvement of people in the commissioning and provision of local care services, along with how such provision is scrutinized
Recommending investigation or special review of services via Healthwatch England or directly to the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Providing advice and information about access to services and support for making informed choices
Making the views and experiences of people known to Healthwatch England, so enabling our parent organisation in its role as national champion.
NHS Complaints Advocacy.
Healthwatch Torbay achieves these
functions by working in collaboration with
other organisations to identify causes for
concern amongst the local community and
using people’s views to influence relevant
decision-making bodies.
Healthwatch Torbay 8
Our Mission Statement
“Healthwatch Torbay aims to be the local consumer champion influencing, responding,
improving and monitoring health and social care services in Torbay. It will provide local people,
community and voluntary groups with a voice to influence the planning, purchasing and
provision of these services and support the public to promote better results in health for all
and social care for adults”.
Our Healthwatch Torbay Team:
The diagram above illustrates our organisational structure. Our staffing comprises of the Chief
Executive, Engagement and Finance Officer, Information and Communication Officer and
Office Administration Assistant
The involvement of volunteers is central to our success. The wide range of our activities, and
the number of organisations, groups and individuals with an interest in health and social care,
means that there is a need for involvement from people other than the staff at Healthwatch
Torbay.
Therefore, our dedicated volunteers are integral to every level of the structure illustrated
above; as they support each and every staff member, steering group and, of course, the Board
of Trustees.
Listening to people who use health and care services
Healthwatch Torbay 10
Gathering experiences and
understanding people’s needs
Healthwatch Torbay’s main area of
engagement over the past year has been
our online ‘rate & review’ system.
The graphic below shows that we had over
700 reviews of a wide variety of local
health and social care services from April
2015 to April 2016 – this is over 200 more
reviews than the previous year.
We have also had over 10,000 visits to our
website in that time (an increase of 3,000)
and to date (May 2016) we have 450
Facebook likes (112 increase) and 1,973
Twitter followers (500 increase) in our
online community.
In addition to our online presence, we
have carried out a number of external
engagement events to gather local public
feedback, including our annual September
visit to Torbay’s three town centres in
Torquay, Paignton and Brixham with our
‘Consultation Caravan’. Healthcare
professionals, including South Western
Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust,
accompanied us to talk to the public,
where we engaged with over 200 members
of the local community.
We obtain the experiences of health and
social care users and understand their
needs via our Freephone number, email
address, and dedicated public-facing
walk-in facility at Paignton Library.
*Please note: Rating is offered by the public, and Sentiment (Green = % of positive reviews, Red = % negative reviews)
is calculated by the language used. Inconsistencies between the two may occur depending on the nature of the review.
(e.g. Many reviewers will rate it highly but comment more on what needs to improve.)
Healthwatch Torbay 11
Healthwatch Representatives with Kevin Foster
MP at the mental health & wellbeing day
Our showcase event at Paignton Library
Badge-making during Torbay Carnival Week
Engagement Activities
In 2015/16 we took part in a number of
events to gather public feedback into
health & social care services and our
fabulous volunteers have also taken part
in a number of different engagement
activities, including:
Drop in Events held in libraries, churches
and leisure centres in Torquay, Paignton
and Brixham.
Our Engagement Drum - gathering public
rate & review forms - has appeared at
various locations across Torbay,
including leisure centres and large
organisations.
A patient consultation of a merger
between St Lukes Surgery and Greenwood
Surgery in Brixham – we ensured Patients
were consulted and had the opportunity
to raise concerns about the merger and
produced a report, which led to each
patient being consulted.
Working with Croft Hall Surgery and their
Patient Participation Group (PPG) to
produce a report entitled ‘Making Public
Engagement Easy’ for GP Practices.
Hosting a mental health and wellbeing
day at Paignton Library with over 900
people attending and learning more
about local mental health support
services.
A ‘blue light’ event focused on learning
disability and providing information and
support about all NHS and health and
wellbeing providers, with over 300
people attending.
A showcase event to demonstrate to the
public the work Healthwatch Torbay had
undertaken 2014/15 and gathered their
views on our focus and priorities for the
coming year.
Attendeding several large community
events such as Paignton Harbour Festival
and Torbay Carnival where we introduced
new badges for children and young
people to design on what being healthy
meant to them, and shared key health
messages to young people e.g. how much
fruit to eat and when to dial 999.
Attended a Children’s flu Party for all 2,
3 and 4 year olds living in Torquay to
Healthwatch Torbay 12
Our volunteers Chris & Pam at Brixham Hospital
Our consultation events in Paignton town centre
receive their flu vaccinations, with over
400 children in attendance.
Chairing the Carers strategy meeting and
worked with a multi-agency forum,
following on from recommendations
made from our Carer’s Services report.
Taking our consultation caravan events
back into Torbay’s town centres, along
with South Western Ambulance Service
NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) and the
South Devon & Torbay Clinical
Commissioning Group.
Taking part in other engagement
activities to gather general feedback at
Torbay Hospital, Paignton and Brixham
Hospital and South Devon College Health
and Wellbeing Week – where we engaged
with over 2,000 16-19 year olds.
Our Enter & View activity, which was
focused on social care, an area where
feedback was limited as those particular
service-users rarely had the opportunity
to have their voices heard – something
we wanted to change. Our authorised
Enter & View representatives visited
care services to observe and assess
quality in three care homes in Paignton
and Torquay. They further conducted
home visits with users of Mears
domiciliary care provider and have
begun engagement and research into the
quality of Hospital Transport and social
care assessments.
Our fabulous volunteers have
also taken part in a number
of different engagement
activities, to gather as much
feedback as possible.
Consultations:
In 2015/16 we conducted a number of
consultations, including a service user
consultation regarding the closure of
Baytree House learning disability unit in
Torquay.
We also publicised and promoted a great
number of online surveys and
consultations to the Torbay public,
including:
South West NHS 111 Service – gathering
public feedback on the service to
contribute to the Care Quality
Commission (CQC) inspection.
Primary Care Strategy – a South Devon &
Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group
survey to find out what patients think
about the priorities they have set out.
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation
Trust – gathering public feedback on
Torbay Hospital Community Services.
Giving people advice and information
Healthwatch Torbay
14
HWT's Eliza and Jack gathering feedback *% score relates to total feedback, with each category containing some ‘signposted’ duplicates, hence the total not equalling 100%
Helping people get what they need
from local health and care services
In 2015/16 we received 712 reviews via
our online rate and review system and 402
non rate and review general enquiries –
over a thousand interactions.
All feedback has been logged, and of the
total 1114 enquiries and feedback in
2015/16, 16% wanted help making an
official complaint and 10% were escalated
further via referral to external
organisations such as the Patient Advice
and Liaison Service (PALS), Support
Empower Advocate Promote (SEAP),
health trusts, Torbay Safeguarding, South
Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning
Group (CCG), NHS England and the Care
Quality Commission (CQC).
Healthwatch Feedback in Numbers
37%
signposted to another relevant
organisation
33%
called us directly
23%
came to visit us in person at our
Paignton Library walk-in centre
21%
wrote to us or sent our postcards in
19%
emailed us or contacted us via
Facebook/Twitter
Of the total 1114 enquiries
and feedback in 2015/16,
16% wanted help making an
official complaint and 10%
were further escalated
We also produced a Healthcare Directory
containing all local health and social care
organisations, providers and support
groups, which was distributed to all local
providers in Torbay and many other public
organisations. The aim of this publication
was to present both providers and the
public with signposting information, and
to maximise access to the help and
support on offer across the Bay. The
directory was a great success. Many
organisations requested further copies
and our print run of 15,000 copies was
soon exhausted. Another updated
directory is currently in production.
We also conducted Care Act Training for
the voluntary sector to raise awareness
about the new Care Act 2014.
How we have made a difference
Healthwatch Torbay 16
Our reports and recommendations
In 2016 we finalised
our summary report
into the
consultation we
conducted with the
service users of
Baytree House. This
Torquay unit, with
10 beds (8 used) for
adults with Learning
Disabilities, offered Respite Care.
Members of the Torbay and South Devon
NHS Foundation Trust were present at the
consultations to respond to some of the
concerns raised regarding the proposed
closure of the unit. Recommendations
included: a delay in the implementation to
allow a full consultation review and time
for alternative providers to be fully ready;
that Carers be able to attend open
meetings to access information about
provision currently in place and proposals
for new respite opportunities; the
completion of assessments and
consultation questionnaires; and a request
that all concerned learn from the
consultative process and the concerns
raised. We would propose that the
experience of this process be used to
develop a different approach to public
consultation in future, with service users
at the centre.
Healthwatch Torbay
contributed to
Healthwatch
England’s hospital
discharge report –
entitled ‘Safely
Home: What happens
when people leave
hospitals and care
settings?’ with our own study into unsafe
hospital discharge amongst Torbay’s
homeless population. The report brings
together 3,230 patient stories and pieces
of evidence revealing both the human and
financial cost of getting the hospital
discharge process wrong.
We produced a Living
Well Mental Health
Event Report covering
feedback gathered from
over 900 visitors at our
free public Mental
Health Wellbeing event
during Mental Health
Awareness Week,
supported by local care
trusts and the South Devon and Torbay
Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Following the event, we’re currently
following up with over 30 people who
showed an interest in developing a
service-user mental health forum.
We worked with the South Devon & Torbay
CCG to gather public feedback on eye care
services in our Vision in View Report,
which was fed directly into the
commissioning strategies of the national
UK Vision Strategy for eye care. The
information within supported the need for
an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer “ECLO”, a
Meeting of Baytree House service users
Healthwatch Torbay 17
Healthwatch Torbay Trustee Chris Sumner
addresses the Vision UK Conference in Manchester
service since introduced to Torbay Eye
Clinic.
This project was recognised nationally as
an example of good practice and
Healthwatch Torbay was invited to share
their experience at the national Vision UK
“Commissioning Live” conference.
Services in the Community
Another project in 2015 led to an
extensive report on local health-related
community services. The report
highlighted a perceived lack of
information on a range of local services,
particularly Minor Injury Units (MIUs). It
recommended an extensive local
marketing campaign to inform residents of
the types of community-based health-
related services available, a review of the
current MIU signage, and further
exploration on how the community would
like to access community-based health
provision. Such research could have an
immediate effect on the demand for
emergency services.
Social Care Complaints
Feedback gathered throughout 2015/16
led Healthwatch Torbay to recommend a
review of social care and safeguarding
complaints procedures. We have raised
public concerns about the ability to
deliver timely services at a time of
ongoing funding reductions. It is fully
recognised by Healthwatch Torbay that
there are increased pressures and
demands on the Adult Social Care Team.
Moving forward with the New Model of
Care and the aspirations of a fully
integrated system, service users need to
be empowered to self-care. Therefore,
there needs to be a strong and equal
emphasis on listening to what the issues
are for service users across the sector and
for a more joined-up approach to
feedback, solutions and experience.
Healthwatch Torbay would recommend a
more joint protocol for the handling of
health and adult social care complaints
and a more accessible single point of
contact for service users to raise their
concerns and share their experiences.
Working with other organisations
We have worked
on a landmark
project with
Mears Care
Limited – who
had recently
become the main
provider of care
and support at
home in Torbay.
We consulted with a focused client group
to provide an opportunity for individuals
who are seldom-heard to have their say
about the health and social care services
they currently receive and how the new
provider was performing.
Healthwatch Torbay 18
Healthwatch Torbay CEO Pat Harris in Manchester
We worked closely with the Care Quality
Commission (CQC) to gather and share
feedback for two of their large scale
inspections: the South West NHS 111
Service and the Torbay and South Devon
NHS Foundation Trust.
We worked with the South Devon &
Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG) to consult with the public on their
Primary Care Strategy and find out what
patients think about the priorities the
CCG had identified.
We also worked with the South Devon &
Torbay CCG on a project to encourage,
help and support Torbay GP practices to
set up face-to-face Patient Participation
Groups (PPG) and have established a
Torbay-wide PPG Forum.
We have worked on a care home
service-user consultation project with
three Care Homes in Torbay, Rosehill
Rehabilitation Unit in Torquay, and
Pendennis & Harbour Rise Residential
Homes, both in Paignton. The project
provided the opportunity for seldom
heard individuals to have their say about
the health and social care services they
currently receive, and allowed us to
make recommendations for
improvement.
We have also established a productive
working relationship with independent
NHS complaints advocacy service SEAP
(Support Empower Advocate Promote) to
set up public consultation days at our
Paignton Library walk-in facility. SEAP
advocates interview our clients who
require support on a one-on-one basis in
order to guide them through the
complaints process. This arrangement
has proved very popular.
We have worked with the Torbay
Community Development Trust (TCDT) to
promote and support Torbay’s new online
information and advice directory - The
Orb. This allows people across the Bay to
be better connected and informed about
services in our area. The site can be
accessed via www.torbayorb.co.uk.
We have also worked with South Devon
College to ensure young people have their
say by gathering student views of local health
& social care services via attendance at
College theme weeks and a dedicated
online student survey.
Healthwatch Torbay Representatives have
travelled to London to raise the real life
concerns of local people using health and
social care services at the Houses of
Parliament, Westminster at events
attended by parliamentarians and as key
decision makers from across health and
social care. Our CEO Pat Harris also spoke
at the National Healthwatch England
Conference in Manchester.
Our work in focus
Healthwatch Torbay 20
A Trustee’s perspective
Pam Prior, Healthwatch Torbay Trustee
“Being a Healthwatch Trustee and a
volunteer in a small organisation like ours
where many retired people use
volunteering as part of a new work/life
balance, means getting stuck in!
My main activity is working with the South
Devon & Torbay Clinical Commissioning
Group (CCG), part of the NHS that
commissions services to meet the care
needs of people in Torbay and South
Devon. Healthwatch has a responsibility to
remain independent and unbiased whilst
raising issues which reflect what the
public and patients are telling us about
our health and care services. I want to
reassure the public that what they say to
us is valued, listened to and acted on.
‘Vanguard’ for urgent and emergency care
is one example. If you are in the unlucky
position of having an accident of any kind,
joining a long queue in the emergency
department is not ideal for either the
public or the staff, even if the care you
get is the best there is. To address this,
the CCG were one of few to win project
funding from NHS England to work faster
in addressing the problems. The task is
not easy and means not disrupting current
systems until it is clear that different ways
will work better.
My responsibility is to make sure that
insight from the public, on what works and
what could be better, is part of the
process. So my current challenge is to
collect these stories and to make sure they
are communicated and listened to.
Healthwatch Torbay has an excellent way
to do this, not only by going out to meet
and talk to the public, but also through our
online Rate and Review system. This is an
easy digital way to tell us about the
quality of our services at any time. In this
project your experience with NHS 111,
emergency ambulance (999), minor injury
units, pharmacies, mental health crisis,
out of hours doctors and advice from your
own GP are all relevant. Not just how
quickly care was given but whether your
dignity was considered, whether you were
listened to at the time or what special
thing made you more in control of your
wellbeing.
Although we are all proud of our NHS, we
also know it is far from perfect. The
current NHS Chief Executive reminds us
that at its best the NHS is ‘of the people,
by the people and for the people’ and your
views are essential to ensuring you get the
service you desire.”
By Pam Prior, Healthwatch Torbay Trustee
Healthwatch Torbay 21
A service-user perspective
We escalated a concern to Healthwatch
England (HWE) and Public Health England
(PHE) after hearing public feedback
regarding the shingles vaccination from
Torbay residents.
Currently, the shingles vaccine is only
available on the NHS for people aged 70 or
78 on 1 September 2015 (and to people aged
71, 72 or 79 who haven’t been vaccinated
yet), yet the reasoning behind this age range
decision was described as ‘vague’ and
‘confusing’ by local older residents – a
significant proportion of the Torbay
population.
We escalated these concerns to Healthwatch
England (HWE), who investigated the matter
further via additional published Government
information around the shingles vaccination
programme. HWE found that official
guidelines stated that the vaccination
programme is being staggered this way “as it
would be impractical to vaccinate everyone
in their 70s in a single year” and that
patients need to “await an invite from their
doctor, when the time is right for them to
enter the programme”. This explanation was
described by Torbay residents as a “very
ambiguous” reason for why those aged
between 73 and 77 cannot currently receive
a shingles vaccination.
HWE agreed that the Government policy
behind the roll-out is complex and not easily
explained and that better information is
needed for those aged 73-77. They
consequently raised the matter nationally to
PHE.
PHE responded to explain that the shingles
vaccination roll-out is designed so that
consumers would obtain maximum benefit
from the vaccine. Anticipated release dates
for those aged between 73 and 77 will be
confirmed at a later date, dependent on
vaccine supply and contractual negotiations.
They also created online resources for
healthcare professionals and the general
public to publicise who is (and is not) eligible
and why. We have made these resources
available online and contacted the original
Torbay residents who raised their concerns.
“In 2015 we escalated local
concerns regarding the shingles
vaccination nationally to
Healthwatch England and Public
Health England.
Healthwatch Torbay 22
An organisational perspective
Healthwatch Torbay works collaboratively
with providers and local organisations to
discuss issues openly and to effectively
influence the way services are provided.
We are part of a national network,
reporting to Healthwatch England and the
Care Quality Commission. We work with
all Torbay health and adult care providers
and commissioners, sharing local service-
user feedback at a variety of regional
meetings, including: the NHS Quality
Surveillance Group; the Torbay Health and
Wellbeing Board; the Torbay Adult
Safeguarding Board; and meetings with
care trusts, clinical commissioning groups
and the Care Quality Commission.
Who we work with locally
The local care trust
is working on behalf
of Torbay Council
coordinating the
delivery of adult social Care. The Council are
also responsible for providing a range of
services for children, young people, and their
families.
Led by local GPs,
they represent GP
practices and are
the formal NHS body responsible for buying
and devolving health services for local people.
Integrated
health and
social care organisation providing services in
Torbay and South Devon. The Trust aims to
provide safe, high quality health and social
care at the right time, in the right place to
support the people of Torbay and South
Devon to live their lives to the full. The Trust
provides health and social care services to
local people including community hospitals
and Torbay general hospital.
NHS organisation
that works closely
with other health and social care providers
across Devon to promote mental wellbeing.
South Western
Ambulance Service NHS
Foundation Trust (SWASFT) works provides
ambulance services and NHS 111 call-handling
& triage services to the South West.
Healthwatch Torbay
has had the support
of the Torbay Public
Health Team on a range of issues, on
organisational development, and has worked
collaboratively on a range of initiatives.
Independent
watchdog for
ALL health
and social
care services in England. The CQC inspects
services to ensure they meet government-
required standards. We share people's
experiences and community engagement
reports, helping the CQC to build an
understanding of local provision.
We have been
working with the
Torbay Community
Development Trust (TCDT) to jointly promote
events and consultations, such as the TCDT’s
campaign ‘Ageing Well,’ a 6 year programme
to reduce social isolation in Torbay.
Healthwatch Torbay 23
Comments from Partners
Dr Nick Roberts, Chief Clinical Officer at South Devon & Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group:
“For the past three years our working relationship with Healthwatch Torbay has been beneficial,
particularly in terms of our engagement work with the public. For example, in 2015/16 we
commissioned Healthwatch Torbay to support the development of GP practices’ Patient Participation
Groups (PPGs). Previously, many practices were collecting patient feedback via email distribution lists,
which didn’t allow for productive discussion or participation with the practice. Healthwatch Torbay has
supported practices to look at other ways of engaging, as well drawing together a forum of PPGs, which
in their March meeting represented almost all Bay practices. We have agreed funding for Healthwatch
Torbay to continue this work in 2016/17, enabling the forum to be supported to govern itself and work
with other involvement groups.
“Healthwatch Torbay has also been fundamental in the creation of Torbay Community Engagement
Forum, which aims to be at the center of better communication between the people of Torbay and any
organisation that provides a service within it. As a CCG, we have used the forum to discuss the issues
related to our community services, in preparation for consultation.
In 2015 we were part of the successful Urgent Care Vanguard bid, which saw South Devon and Torbay
become one of only eight areas in the country to receive this status. Healthwatch
Torbay has fulfilled public representation roles on our Vanguard programme board,
and in a number of workstreams in this programme, as well as our Primary Care Joint
Commissioning Committee and our Engagement Committee.
“The information we have collected from these events and forums has influenced our
current priorities and our proposed work, and we look forward to learning more about
what Healthwatch Torbay hear from people on a day-to-day basis, so we can use the
information to ensure our services are effective for us now and for future generations.”
Carol Pearson, Experience & Engagement Lead at Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust:
“Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft Healthwatch Annual report. Torbay and South
Devon NHS Foundation Trust would like to congratulate Torbay Healthwatch on a successful year and
the ongoing relationship between our organisations that keeps people at the heart of their respective
work and decision making.
We have valued Healthwatch Torbay`s input into the work of the Trust, their attendance at
Workstream 2 ( legacy SDHCFT) and Experience and Engagement Group ( legacy T&SDCT) and their
ongoing support for the Engagement Group .
The drop-in sessions at the hospital have proved very valuable and we look forward to
planning more focussed work in the coming year which covers the whole
organisation. Holding SEAP drop-ins at the Healthwatch Offices has proved a valuable
resource for complainants seeking extra support and we hope to see this continue.
We are pleased to respond to online rate and review comments and in the main,
delighted to see the range of positive feedback about the Trust.”
Healthwatch Torbay 24
Information and advice
“Healthwatch Torbay was formed at a
time of massive change within the Health
and Social Care sector. The Health and
Social Care Act 2012 and the Care Act 2014
both aim to put service users at the centre
of a modern, responsive new system.
Indeed, this is one of the reasons why
Healthwatch Torbay, a registered charity,
was given statutory powers to ensure the
voices of local people are heard by the
decision makers.
“We believe it’s time to do things
differently. The health and social care
system should be clear with people about
their rights and actively involve them in
decisions that affect their lives and
those of people in their community”
Dr Katherine Rake OBE
This continues to be a huge challenge as
public health and social care professionals
still trying to navigate complex new
structures. Clinical Commissioning
Groups, the new Integrated Care
Organisation, Public Health and Health
and Wellbeing Boards all have to play a
vital part in the provision of services.
Healthwatch Torbay has an important
statutory role to play in information,
signposting, and guiding service users, as
well as speaking out on their behalf.
“Information and Advice on social care
can make a huge difference to people’s
lives. Only 2% of those surveyed found it
very easy or fairly easy to find
information and advice.”
THINK LOCAL ACT PERSONAL Report:
Knowing where to go for information is
very important to the general public; with
87% of respondents to a Healthwatch
Torbay survey expressing the desire for
one point of contact to access
information.
There is no one route into the health and
social care system, and finding out what
options and choices are available to the
individual is not readily available in an
acceptable format anywhere. The Torbay
Orb is an online directory, and is being
developed to help address this issue and
to collect data and reviews on services
users. Healthwatch Torbay will train its
staff and volunteers to use the
information it provides to help people find
the options they need to make informed
decisions and, where possible, facilitate
self-help solutions.”
By Fiona Collis,
Healthwatch Torbay Trustee
Our plans for next year
Healthwatch Torbay 26
Future priorities
Healthwatch Torbay’s role is to work
collaboratively with providers, local
organisations and service users to
facilitate an open conversation about how
services should be delivered.
One of the challenges faced by
Healthwatch Torbay is the complex local
health & social care landscape. Both
locally and nationally there are a number
of key changes that will significantly
impact local people and stakeholders. A
range of stakeholders are involved in
progressing this agenda, including: Torbay
Council, the South Devon and Torbay
Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG),
Devon Partnership Trust (DPT), and the
Torbay and South Devon Health and Care
NHS Foundation Trust (TSDHCT).
In addition, there is a wide range of
voluntary sector provision without which
the whole structure of care would face
significant challenges. This is why,
regardless of operational boundaries, it is
essential that we find ways to work
effectively together to support
integrated care across the Bay.
In 2016-17 we will look to:
Further develop our online Rate and
Review service so that it is integrated
with other local information systems.
Fully implement a new Customer
Relationship Management system to
organise, automate, and standardise
our data input and analysis.
Continue to promote our service to all
sections of the local community.
Work with partners to integrate their
data into our reporting framework.
Work closely with strategic partners,
providers and user groups to ensure we
are presenting data in a way which can
help improve service delivery.
Share our findings widely so that local
people can understand the impact of
their feedback and encourage others to
do the same.
Develop our volunteer base by investing
in support, training and supervision.
Further develop our close relationship
with the national regulator the Care
Quality Commission (CQC), particularly
in light of the ongoing evolution of both
the CQC and Healthwatch at national
and local levels. We will maintain and
improve our collaboration with CQC
teams and Public Engagement teams.
Continue to influence national policy
which impacts on local communities
and will commit resources to our
regional and national policy work.
Pat Harris, Kevin Foster MP (for Torbay) & Dr Kevin Dixon
sharing public feedback at London’s Houses of Parliament
Our people
Healthwatch Torbay 28
Involving local people in our work
The involvement of volunteers and the
citizens of the Bay is central to the success
of Healthwatch Torbay.
A volunteering strategy has been
developed which details how we believe
volunteers enhance different aspects of
our work. The strategy is supported by
policies covering how we recruit, support
and develop volunteer roles in
Healthwatch Torbay. These include
Healthwatch:
‘Champions’ - who act as
ambassadors
Researchers
Event Organisers
Administration volunteers
Enter & View Assessors.
Healthwatch Torbay relies heavily on our
volunteers to help us gather even more
feedback and ensure Healthwatch is
embedded into the local community.
To support and promote our work,
Healthwatch Torbay has a dedicated
volunteer Executive Board of Trustees
with overall responsibility for our
organisation. They sit (with other
appropriate volunteers) on our steering
groups and committees to make relevant
organisational and strategic decisions.
These include our Business Committee,
Project Research Steering Group, and our
Children & Young People Steering Group.
“The involvement of volunteers
and the citizens of Torbay is
central to the success of
Healthwatch Torbay”
Board members and other volunteers also
sit on an extremely wide variety of local
and regional meetings in order to share
valuable information with stakeholders.
These include: NHS Quality Surveillance
Group Meeting; Torbay Hospital Work
Stream 2 Meeting; Joint Healthwatch
Torbay, Plymouth, Devon & Cornwall Area
Team meetings; the South West NHS
Senate; the South West NHS Senate’s
Citizens Assembly; NHS Clinical Advisory
Group Meeting; and the Health Overview
and Scrutiny. Of particular importance is
the Torbay Health and Wellbeing Board -
where leaders from the health and care
system within Torbay work together to
improve the health and wellbeing of the
local community.
We support these volunteers by providing
local intelligence received from the
public. This data is shared at these fora
and utilised to inform service monitoring
and development and ultimately improve
the health and social care landscape for
all in Torbay.
Healthwatch Torbay 29
A Volunteer Story
Eliza Lawler, Healthwatch Torbay Volunteer (left) at an engagement event
“It all started for me when I answered an
advert in the local newspaper for people
interested in the provision of health and
social care within their community to help
bring Healthwatch Torbay into being.
Following three thorough interviews, I was
given the opportunity to sample a wide
variety of roles, which included Outward
Bound with the events team: attempting
to put up a tent on hard ground using filled
water containers; collecting stones from
Paignton beach to act as paperweights
during an event held in a ‘minor
hurricane’; attempting to engage with the
public during a thunderstorm from a
Healthwatch stand nestling next to a noisy
generator at a funfair; oh and competing
for attention with an enclosure full of
snakes!
Contrast the above with calmly listening
to upset, worried individuals who drop
into our office for help and advice and also
representing Healthwatch Torbay during
house visits encouraging people to share
their home care experiences.
Now I have found a role that I really do
enjoy, helping with Community
Engagement, or translated, getting
Healthwatch as much local public
recognition as possible by meeting and
talking with people of all ages and
backgrounds who live in the Bay.
One thing is guaranteed: no two days as a
Healthwatch volunteer are the same.
Variety leads to different opportunities for
volunteers to find their “niche” role.
Meeting lots of different people in lots of
different contexts, it certainly helps to
have a sense of humour and the ability to
think on your feet, sometimes a chance
conversation or a brief meeting can lead
to a serious and important issue being
highlighted.
I don’t plan to move again. I think Torbay
is stuck with me. Volunteering with
Healthwatch Torbay has helped me feel
‘at home’ in the Bay. I’m now familiar
with the area, have met lots of new
people and have seen, first hand, how
national policies impact at local level - for
example, how ongoing local authority
budget cuts have led to the loss of some
grass roots support services. This makes
organisations, like Healthwatch really
important, and the input of local people
and help of volunteers is absolutely vital.
On a less serious note I certainly enjoy
being constantly surprised, sometimes
amused, and always kept busy with
Healthwatch; oh and I’ve made plenty of
new friends as well!”
By Eliza Lawler,
Healthwatch Torbay Volunteer
Our finances
Healthwatch Torbay 31
Our Financial Report
Healthwatch Torbay Registered Office: Paignton Library and Information Centre, Room 17,
Great Western Road, Paignton, Devon TQ4 5AG
Tel: 08000 520 029
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.healthwatchtorbay.org.uk
Registered Company number: 8396325
Charity number: 1153450
Healthwatch Torbay Accountants: Barretts Chartered Accountants & Chartered Tax Advisers,
22 Union Street, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 2JS
Independent examiner of accounts: Ian Barrett, FCA FCIE
INCOME £
Funding received from local authority to deliver local Healthwatch statutory activities
£139,000
Additional grants/income £20,594
Total income £159,594
EXPENDITURE
Staffing costs £92,732
Office costs £12,914
General Overheads £12,182
Staff Expenses £3,580
Volunteer Expenses £2,532
Meeting room hire/refreshments/Events £1,739
Projects and Research £18,708
Total expenditure £144,387
Balance brought forward £15,207
Contact us
Healthwatch Torbay 33
Paignton Library and Information Centre
Get in touch
Address: Healthwatch Torbay
Paignton Library and Information Centre
Room 17
Great Western Road
Paignton
Devon
TQ4 5AG
Phone number: 08000 520 029
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.healthwatchtorbay.org.uk
Address of contractors: Torbay Council
Town Hall
Castle Circus
Torquay
TQ1 3DR
We will be making this annual report publicly available by 30th June 2016 by publishing it on our website and
circulating it to Healthwatch England, CQC, NHS England, Clinical Commissioning Group/s, Overview and Scrutiny
Committee/s, and our local authority.
We confirm that we are using the Healthwatch Trademark (which covers the logo and Healthwatch brand) when
undertaking work on our statutory activities as covered by the licence agreement.
If you require this report in an alternative format please contact us at the address above.
© Copyright (Healthwatch Torbay, 2016)
Healthwatch Torbay @HWTorbay
