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Annual Report 2017 | 2018 We’re Listening
AnnualReport2017 | 2018
We’re Listening
ContentsMessage from our Chair 3
Message from our Chief Executive 4
Engagement 5
Strategic Plans 6
Our Projects 8
Knowledge is Power 15
Our Plans for Next Year 15
Our People 17
Finance 17
Contact us 19
Visit our website at www. healthwatchcumbria.co.uk
We engaged face to face with 6,137 people
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
There have been many changes to the way our health and social careservices are being delivered across the county. The development of twoClinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in Cumbria has resulted in a lot ofcollaborative thinking and partnership working, both at a strategic andlocal level.
Partnership is the key driver to our mission. Our role is pivotal in listeningto and empowering people to become involved in the design of their ownservices. The concept of Co-production, the buzz word of the moment,should mean that people are treated as assets; Healthwatch is anessential part of that process.
These changes have led to the formation of Integrated Care Communities(ICC) which support the co-ordination of services at a local level andinvolve listening to the needs of local people. These initiatives mean thatour role as ‘the voice of the people’ has become more central.Healthwatch has been involved with a number of Co-production activities.After revisiting the community groups involved in work related to theremoval of inpatient beds in the community hospitals we published areport outlining their concerns.
Again at a local level I am delighted that we have welcomed the ChattyVan back into our fold. It provides a popular and strong visual presence inthe community. The van enables us to reach the more rural and remoteareas and allows participation from a wider range of people.
One of our major pieces of engagement work this year was an ambitiousproject aiming to discover ‘What Does a Good Life Look Like?’ for those with learning difficulties. We wantedto discover what level of support people need and what they want to help them live their best lives. An innovative symposium is planned, as an event, to consider emerging findings reflected in the report.
As well as all the activity at a local level Healthwatch Cumbria (HWC) works hard at a strategic level,alongside the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Healthwatch England. As a member of the HealthwatchEngland Committee I have been heavily involved in the strategic forward planning at a national level. We alsosit on the County Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board where we have been working with our Health andSocial Care colleagues to design a new strategy to address the demands of the changing landscape of healthprovision.
Message from our Chair
We have 23 fantastic volunteers. (Including Board members)
Helen Horne - Chair of Healthwatch Cumbria
I am a proud Cumbrian, and on the surface of things Cumbria looks prettymuch the same as it has all my life, with its Pennine spine, the industrialNuclear Coast and the picturesque Lake District. In contrast the landscapearound the delivery of healthcare in Cumbria has changed beyondrecognition in the last year.
With the reconfiguration of the CCGs changing the organisationalboundaries for the delivery of services HWC has adapted and repositioneditself close enough to the new structures and processes to be able toensure the public voice and patient interest is central to any proposedservice changes.
We’ve been at the forefront of the Co-production of solutions and ideas toservice delivery, which has meant, on occasions, working withcommunities and individuals who had previously sat on opposite sides ofthe table. Our continued hosting of the West Cumbria Community Forum(WCCF) is a good example of us bringing people together who may havepreviously disagreed with one another, but by providing an environmentand creating an atmosphere conducive to working together have producedsome exciting, innovative ideas for the improvement of local health andcare service delivery.
The spirit of Co- production has been central to the work we have carriedout this year. We have attended, encouraged and supported people to Co -production working groups to ensure that system leaders and decisionmakers hear, and act upon, the views and experiences of members ofthe public.
We have engaged with hundreds of young people asking them what health and care services they feel are ofgreatest importance to them and are implementing a project based around our findings to highlight areas ofgood and bad practice. We’ve also bought a Chatty Van so that we can meet and hear the views of even morepeople who may live in the most rural areas of the county, if you can’t get to us we’ll come to you!An organisation that brings together so many people cannot work in isolation; we work with others to helpimprove health and care services for the public, patients and service users. We forge strong links with localcharities, community groups and work collaboratively with many partners, the success we have had doing thiscontributed to the successful tender made to Lancashire County Council to deliver the Healthwatch Lancashire(HWL) contract by our parent organisation People First. I particularly look forward to sharing, and learningfrom our colleagues in Lancashire having already worked successfully with them on a number of projectsbrought about through the Healthwatch Collaborative (more on this later) and by the establishment of theMorecambe Bay CCG (MB CCG).
In a year that saw The Lake District National Park became a United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural (UNESCO) world heritage site Cumbria still looks the same, but the man-made silos that affect theway we work and live have changed, and Healthwatch has adapted and sought to include people, bringingthem together to ensure silos are overcome resulting in the best possible joined services worthy of theCumbrian people.
Message from our Chief Executive
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David Blacklock - Chief Executive, Healthwatch
Cumbria
Engagement is at the heart of everything we do, effective engagement ensures we maintain links withcommunities and individuals and remain aware of what is happening and how people are feeling around thecounty. From these relationships comes the intelligence we need to inform our work and increase ourinfluence.
HWC has added an extra engagement tool to our kit this yearin the shape of our very own Chatty Van (and yes, we’vechecked with Alan Carr and he thinks it’s a great idea).We had previously rented a van and customised it for specificengagement events to help us reach the most rural areas ofthe county. Now that we have our own van we intend to use itas often as possible to ensure that people in every community,no matter how small or rural, have the opportunity to havetheir say on health and social care issues.
So keep your eyes peeled and you will probably see the van ina town, village or on a B road near you.
Some of the ways we regularly engage include:
� Members of HWC staff continue to regularly attend volunteer fairs, local community groups and GPsurgery Patient Participation Groups around the county topromote and raise awareness of HWC and encourage new volunteers to come forward and hear patient experiences.
� HWC volunteers are regularly present at the Cumberland Infirmary Carlisle (CIC) and the West Cumberland Hospital Whitehaven (WCH) collecting patient experiences and talking to patients, visitors and staff to gather their views on accessing health and social care services. The intelligence gathered during these sessions is collected on feedback forms and then transferred to the Customer Relationship Management system (CRM). Regular analysis helps to identify possible trends which require further exploration.
Some examples of the more diverse “seldom heard” group events that we have attended include:
� Blind Society Macular Degeneration event in UlverstonIn addition to a presentation about the work of HWC a HWC Volunteer who specialises in Macular Degeneration gave a talk about the condition, how sufferers may alleviate some of the symptoms and digital software available to help them.
� World Mental Health DayHWC created two pop up listening booths in Workington and Carlisle on World Mental Health day in October to gauge what the public thought about public awareness of mental health issues. We received 165 responses on the day to a short street survey.
� Cancer Group in KendalHWC attended a meeting of people who have, or have had lymphomas to talk about the work of HWC.
Recognising the potential in online engagement we are continually updating our website with engagementevents, relevant news stories and service information and alerting the public to these items through regularsocial media updates on our Facebook and Twitter feeds. Our online audience continues to grow and we haverefined our contact list to be General Data Production Regulation compliant. We host a number of surveysthrough our online platform as we understand that this is, for many people, the most easily accessible way ofexpressing feedback about services. However we always provide hard copies and easy read versions on requestand at our face to face engagements.
Engagement
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
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The strategic context for local Healthwatch (HW) is constantly changing. In Cumbria we have moved fromworking with one of the most challenged health economies in west, north and east Cumbria through theSuccess Regime to being at the forefront of two emerging Integrated Care Systems (ICS). At the same time astructural change to split the former single Cumbria CCG in two has meant that the core work of HWC isincreasingly delivered in relation to two separate health and care economies.
� North Cumbria which is strongly linked to the health and care economies in the North East of England.
� South Cumbria which is directly linked to the health economy of North Lancashire as part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS.
In both areas, HWC continues to seek greater involvement of people in work-stream activity, consultations,communication and engagement and to explore opportunities for further collaborative and/or commissionedwork.
Local Healthwatch CollaborativeIn the south the impact of HWC is strengthened through the HW Collaborative with HWL, HW Blackpool andHW Blackburn with Darwen which has already been commissioned to deliver a number of projects.
Morecambe Bay CCG HWC has retained its observer status on the refreshed Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group (MB CCG)Governing Body, working with HWL to increase effective working relationships and impact across SouthCumbria and North Lancashire. HWC was part of the interview panel for the appointment of their layrepresentatives.
Representatives from HWC, HWL and HW Blackpool met with representatives of MB CCG to consider how localHW organisations can add value to, and enhance the involvement, inclusion and engagement of local people inhealthcare governance.
Strategic Plans
We’ve published five substantive
reports
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Co-production Groups Following the Success Regime consultation “The Future of Healthcare in West, North and East Cumbria”, NorthCumbria CCG decided to increase collaboration between the system and people through greater co-production. HWC staff, volunteers and Board members are engaged in several co-production working groupswhich are focused on the implementation of the decisions made after the consultation:
� The Working Together Group is focused on involving people in considerations to deliver Option 1 for Maternity and Paediatric Services at the WCH
� The Recruitment and Retention Group is exploring new ways to attract and retain key staff� The Children’s Working Group is exploring the implications of the new model for delivery of Paediatric
Services between the two hospitals� The Experience of Care at a Distance Group is building on a HWC project and considering the implications
and requirements of people who need to travel a distance to receive care
Representing the public strategically Representatives of HWC regularly attend;
The level and extent of HWC involvement is a clear indication of the health and care system’s increasingwillingness to work with HWC to ensure that more local people can be involved at the design stage of services.
Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee (CHSC)HWC now attend pre-meetings and the main meeting of the CHSC committee, sharing appropriate reports orintelligence relating to specific agenda items. Additionally in December 2017 HWC provided a shortpresentation of the findings a HWC project found exploring the health and care experiences of deaf people.This acted as an introduction to a substantive item during which representatives of the local deaf communityexplained the profound challenges that face them daily.
Cumbria Health and Wellbeing Board (CHWB) and Public Health Alliance (PHA)The Chair and CEO of HWC attend the CHWB and a nominated member of the HWC Board attends the PHA.CHWB meetings recently have focused on the aspiration to achieve greater integration of health and careservices.
� System Leadership Board� Provider Alliance Group� Senior Responsible Officers delivery group� Implementation reference group� Primary Care commissioning group
� Primary and Community Services Programme Delivery Board
� Mental Health ICC Steering Group� Cumbria Health and Wellbeing Board� Cumbria Health Scrutiny Committee.
Annual Report 2017 | 2018
We’ve had 971 responses to our reports
Everyone Has a Voice: An inclusive approach to understanding quality of life forpeople with learning difficulties
HWC has completed engagement work on an ambitious project aiming to discover ‘What Does a Good Life LookLike?’ for those with learning difficulties. HWC wants to discover what level of support people need and whatthey want to help them live their best lives possible. The emphasis of the project is to hear and record thevoices of people with learning difficulties. It is recognised that the experiences of this group are routinelyunderrepresented in decision making surrounding the services they use, as well as in research more generally.A core aim of this project is to explore the means by which this can be readdressed; indeed, it is likely thatdiscourse surrounding the final report will make a significant contribution.
HWC has worked in collaboration with Cumbria County Council (CCC), Parent Carer Forums and ProviderForums and formed a Steering Group to ensure commitment from the council and that other providers arekept involved during the analysis period supporting our “no surprises” approach.
HWC developed five sets of survey questions, each of which were tailored to groups of individuals involved atall levels in shaping and delivering services for people with learning difficulties in Cumbria: servicecommissioners, social workers, service providers, parent or family carers and people with learning difficultiesthemselves.
These questions formed the basis of semi-structured interviews where the focus was on what that person feelswould make their life better, what the strategic decision makers and system leaders think are the problemsand what nurses and care providers think could be done better.
Additionally an online survey was created and the responses along with the interview data will form the basisfor discussions at a symposium* at which there will be representatives from all 5 cohorts. It is anticipated thata refreshed Learning Disabilities Partnership Board will own and support the delivery of the Action Plan. Overthe longer term, the report has the potential to serve as the basis for ongoing discourse between respondentgroups and other stakeholders in learning difficulty support services in the county, with the aim ofstrengthening the governance of these services.
*The project will be using an innovative symposium as an event to consider emerging findings reflected in areport in an open and transparent way with all the contributors to the project working to consider solutionstogether.
Our Projects
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Our social media feeds haveincreased to 1805 Twitter
followers and 809 Facebook likes.
Young Healthwatch (YHW)HWC was keen to encourage young people (aged11-25) to help us understand what they thoughtwere the key issues for them around health andsocial care in Cumbria. Understanding that thisage group are confident and happy engaging overdigital media, HWC developed an online ‘strawpoll’ to identify their main health and careconcerns. The poll was sent to all schools in thecounty and promoted on social media. A QR (Quickresponse) code was created to allow access to thesurvey on mobile phones. HWC also undertook aseries of face to face engagements including visitsto schools, colleges, Youth Alliances and CarlisleYouth Zone to encourage responses to the poll andrecord any views/experiences that were offered.
The poll received 418 responses. Mental health was recognised as the main issue – giving HWC a clear mandateto form the basis of a new substantive countywide piece of work.
This project will be designed to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges young peopleexperience when accessing and using the mental health services currently provided. By hearing and recordingyoung people’s experiences we hope to highlight the need for better understanding and ability to recognisethe signs of good and bad mental health and the prevention and management of mental health.
A member of the HWC Board is now Board Lead for Young Healthwatch and is actively promoting this work.
Preparing for WinterThe influenza vaccination was identified by NHS England as a key mechanism to address winter pressuresduring the winter of 2017/18. Following this announcement, a message to the [email protected] address brought to our attention the case of an individual with learning and physical disabilities. For thisindividual accessing an appointment for an influenza vaccination was made extremely difficult by a conflictbetween their schedule of care and that of their GP’s surgery. Furthermore, the individual expressed concernthat they had not received adequate information regarding the provision of influenza vaccinations. The natureof the case suggested that its causes were systemic and deserving of a preliminary investigation by HWC. Theaims of the work were to establish:
� How GPs and pharmacies are communicating with groups of clinically at risk individuals about the need for and means of accessing influenza vaccinations
� How GPs and pharmacies are ensuring that influenza vaccinations are available to all who need them� The level of uptake of influenza vaccinations by clinically at risk individuals� The experiences of clinically at risk individuals in accessing influenza vaccinations� The perception of the quality of influenza vaccination service provision by groups of clinically at risk
individuals.
Effective methods of identifying and communicating with eligible patients are associated with significantlyhigher rates of influenza vaccination. Therefore, HWC sought to make a significant contribution to influenzavaccination rates within the county by comparing the experiences of patients with the strategies of GPsurgeries and pharmacies to: i) identify barriers to influenza vaccination uptake and ii) to identify areas ofbest practice.
A survey was developed available in two forms; online and a paper copy. Analysis of the results showed thatthe majority of the 205 people who responded (80%) had no difficulty obtaining the vaccination. However italso showed that many did experience difficulty and this was acknowledged by 37% of health professionalswho responded. Arguably, many of those experiencing difficulty could be at the greatest risk of healthcomplications. A number of recommendations to raise awareness and address access difficulties have beenproposed.
The published report can be read here: http://bit.ly/2Ipq0iu
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
Better Care Together Engagement (HWC and HWL)HWC and HWL were jointly commissioned to deliver a series of engagement sessions using the HWC Chatty Vanacross the Morecambe Bay Local Delivery Partnership footprint. This involved the development of a survey toexplore people’s views of the “5 hard truths” which the Better Care Together Programme had identified asbeing key to address in order to deliver more effective and efficient services across the Bay.
Members of staff from HWC and HWL were joined by NHS representatives on the Chatty Van at a variety oflocations in South Cumbria and North Lancashire to encourage responses.
Comment cards were also available on the van which gave an opportunity for people to make any commentsthey wished regarding health and care, the comments from both Cumbria and Lancashire have been combinedon a single spreadsheet for analysis and reporting. HWC spoke with 403 members of the public and their viewswere combined with those from people in North Lancashire to inform the final report published in April 2018.
The published report can be read here: bit.ly/2tyhSqB
Dental projectWhen the NHS Dental Practice in Appleby closed in December 2017 HWC began to receive a large number ofsignposting and information requests about the future provision of NHS dental services in the town fromconcerned local residents. HWC felt that the best way to address the questions and concerns of the publicwould be to hold an event where the public could speak directly with a member of the NHS Primary Care Teamassociated with the procurement process. The Hub in Appleby was chosen as the venue and a drop-in wasorganised for the 20th March 2018 with a member of the Primary Care Team and facilitated by HWC staff.Members of the public were able to ask questions, voice concerns and also obtain signposting advice from HWCregarding alternative options available. Feedback from attendees was very positive and HWC was thanked forarranging the event.
A HWC Impact Report was completed to summarise this project.
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We own 1 brightly coloured, fully equipped chatty van
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West Cumbria Community Forum(WCCF)The WCCF continues to provide a vehicle for co-production conversations about key aspects of thechange programme in West Cumbria.
A key feature of the Forum is its broadrepresentation of members drawn from a widerange of communities of interest and place andalso from the health and care system leadership.This enables people who may not otherwise beable to contribute to the discussions around thesignificant change in service delivery to play amore active role. Forum meetings also provideupdates on the co-production work that has beenfacilitated through the Working Together groups.
Eye Health Clinic at Furness General Hospital HWC intelligence gained from patient experience at Furness General Hospital indicated that Eye Clinicpatients were experiencing difficulty contacting the clinic by telephone, the lack of an engaged tone givingthe impression that the call was being ignored. Previously obtained data was analysed and the concerns sharedwith the representative on the NHS Local Eye Health Network Group, the Chair of the Group subsequentlyreferring the issue to the CEO of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) NHS Foundation Trust.
An apology was received from UHMB explaining some of the difficulties that the clinic was experiencing,largely related to staff shortages. Recruitment is underway and a number of actions are being implementedusing IT and a messaging service to address issues of concern in the interim.A HWC Impact Report was completed to summarise this project.
In addition HWC has attended the local NHS eye health network meetings and was able to share intelligencespecific to eye health that has been captured from the CIC. There were 4 experiences shared at the meetingwhich were taken back to the North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust (NCUHT) by their representative foraction.
Community Hospitals and Co-production This project explored the experiences of lay people involved in the Co-production activity designed toimplement the North Cumbria CCG decision to remove inpatient beds in Maryport, Alston and WigtonCommunity Hospitals. To establish what worked well and less well from a community perspective, HWCcreated a survey to monitor the extent to which Leagues of Friends, Alliances and community groups weresatisfied with progress and organised three focus groups with each of the community-based stakeholders toexplore in greater depth any concerns; a report based on the response to the survey and in the focus groupswas created.
This work directly informs on-going work in the commissioned Co-production project currently being deliveredat the request of North Cumbria CCG.
The published report can be read here: bit.ly/2Km0qQC
Annual Report 2017 | 2018
Eden Valley Hospice
Eden Valley Hospice (EVH) is a charity based in Carlisle which opened in 1991 and which received a “good”CQC rating. It regularly receives a vast amount of feedback which is almost entirely positive, but rarelyreceive any suggestions or ideas for service improvement. EVH approached HWC for help in developing anddelivering a process to enhance the collection and use of patient feedback.
Working through a Joint Steering Group including EVH staff and volunteers, HWC created the first ever EVHPatient Charter and a questionnaire designed to record the experiences of patients, families and carersagainst the criteria set out in the charter, providing useable/ useful actionable feedback.
The Head of Care at the hospice wrote, “…members of staff and volunteers from across the hospice haveworked in partnership with Healthwatch Cumbria to develop a Patient Charter. The Charter reflects thephilosophy of hospice care and sets out clear expectations for patients in relation to the care and supportthey can expect to receive when accessing hospice services. The Charter was developed in partnership withHealthwatch Cumbria who facilitated the project with input from patients, family representatives,volunteers and staff. Healthwatch helped with the design and facilitated sessions with staff and volunteersto determine the key themes to include in the Charter. The aim is for the Patient Charter to becomeembedded into every day practice and is a guarantee to patients and their families on the standard of careand support they can expect from hospice staff. HWC was fundamental in maintaining the momentum for thisproject and supporting hospice staff and volunteers to be involved in a new way of working. The developmentof the Patient Charter reflects effective partnership working to achieve anagreed goal with a shared vision – a very positive example of acollaborative approach.”
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Enter and View VisitsThis year HWC trained staff completed our Enter and View programme of visits to care homes in Cumbria. The18 homes (4 of which were visited in 2016 with the remaining 14 visited in 2017) were chosen based onintelligence gathered when reviewing our countywide patient experience of the out of hours GP serviceCumbria Health on Call (CHOC). HWC sought to hear from residents about their experience of accessing healthand care services and produced 18 individual reports reflecting the responses from residents and includingHWC staff observations and recommendations. Each report was submitted to the relevant home for a factualaccuracy check and then for a response within the statutory timeline after which it was published on the HWCwebsite.
Clinical Services Quality Measures (CSQMS)HWC staff and volunteers continue to support our local hospital trusts by participating in the variousinspections/visits (Mock CQC Inspections and Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) visits)primarily focusing on the views of patients, families and carers. These are intended to improve service quality,safety and environment. HWC representatives provide an independent patient perspective and have attended14 PLACE visits this year.
Digital Project (Lancashire and Cumbria Healthwatch Collaborative)The collaborative is working together through a Steering Group to deliver a project that would involve localHealthwatch organisations working with local people to explore how computers and other IT technology couldbe employed to achieve better health and care outcomes. A short survey has been developed and is currentlybeing promoted to the public to complete online and through the engagement activity using the Chatty Van.
NHS England Learning Disabilities Screening Programme, and the Development ofa Toolkit (Lancashire and Cumbria Healthwatch Collaborative).This project explores the relative low uptake of cancer screening opportunities amongst people with learningdifficulties. The project is focused on breast cancer screening for women between 50-70 years, and cervicalscreening for women between 25-64 years. Engagement staff and volunteers have been trained to help themcarry out the engagement work which will inform the design of a Toolkit to help increase sustained uptake ofthe screening process.
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
We’ve created 14 Enter and View reports
about care homes
Page liste the
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Broadening Communication Channels within the NHS (HWC and HWL)The Communication and Engagement lead for Better Care Together commissioned HWC and HWL to worktogether to identify previously unused communication routes/networks and to establish contact with thosewho preside over them. Approximately 530 emails were sent to a range of contacts including ParishNewsletters, nursery groups, local interest groups, school newsletters and third sector care organisations. The full set of researched contacts was passed on to the health and care system communication leads andincluded in the HW Collaborative databases.
Cumbria CCG ----Developing enhanced co-production approaches based on theCumbria experience and the production of a toolkit to roll out our best practiceCumbria CCG commissioned HWC to explore people’s experience of Co-production in North Cumbria. Threefocus groups took place designed to inform the development of a Co-production Charter which will besupported by a range of training material co-developed to help to achieve its aspirations for best practice.
Great North Care Record (GNCR)The GNCR is a regional Integrated Digital Care Record programme for the people of the North East andCumbria, covering a population of 3.6 million people. The GNCR aims to produce a platform to join up recordsin front line care with an analytics platform to be shared by the NHS, Local Authorities, Universities and otherhealth and care related organisations. The improved access to information for care will help make the NorthEast and Cumbria the safest place in the world to get care and the best place in the world to do research.
HWC collaborated with Connecting Health Cities and Teesside University and 11 other local HW on this workand organised three focus groups (Workington, Carlisle and Barrow) to facilitate the views of patients, carersand the public regarding information sharing and consent.
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The more we know about people’s views and experiences of health and care services the greater thestrengthening of our position and influence to represent them.
HWC has successfully positioned itself as a respected, influential, independent voice within the structure ofthe ICS model of change. We encourage, champion and support people to share their views and experiences atstrategic meetings, thus providing a direct opportunity for them to influence decision making around change.
The unique and privileged role HWC has as a people’s champion with influence is based entirely on thestrength and credibility of the intelligence we have gathered through engaging with the public. We havedeveloped and sustained relationships during some of the most strategically challenging change processes inthe health and care system; often in communities which have been concerned and suspicious of the proposedchanges. We have remained steadfast ensuring that the right people are heard, and the right people arelistening.
Our plans for next year include the development of a rigorous programme of core engagements to encourageeven more people to have their say on topics around health and social care.
Core EngagementWe have launched a “Have your Say” survey designed to gauge what health and care services are“Hot”(performing well) and which are “Not” (performing badly). This short survey will be promoted at all ourengagement events and a monthly analysis of responses will provide a temperature gauge of what people arereally happy or concerned about. This is a highly responsive means of measuring public opinion and couldreflect seasonal or even minor service delivery changes, any more major trends that become apparent couldwarrant a substantive piece of work.
Young People’s Mental Health Project60% of the 418 responses to our poll of health and care issues that are of most interest to young people aged11-25 gave us a clear mandate to explore issues around mental health.
We have developed a survey to ascertain what may cause mental ill health in the young, what can help creategood mental health and to see whether respondents are aware of the support services available to them andhow to access them. We created two pathways through the survey, one for those aged 11-18 and one for thoseaged 19-25, the language differs between the two pathways to reflect the development of language skillsthrough these age ranges.
The survey will be sent to all schools in the county prior to the face to face engagement planned to take placein September. The final report is planned to be made public in November.
Knowledge is Power
Plans for Next Year
Annual Report 2017 | 2018
We have increased staffcapacity with the support of 9HW trained sessional officers
Healthwatch HubsTo support the rising awareness of HWC and increase both the quantity of intelligence received and thenumber of volunteers, HWC is setting up HW Hubs across the county. Utilising existing community groups asour eyes and ears to help us gather intelligence, HWC identifies lead representatives from the Hubs to liaisewith an identified HW member of staff. The hubs are expected to report any intelligence received by them toHWC.
The HWC Chatty VanNow that HWC owns a Chatty Van it means that we are able to use it anytime we need to meet with evenmore people. It also provides a unique selling point when tendering for commissioned work as we cancustomise it to the bespoke needs of our collaborative partners.
More Commissioned WorkOur expertise in engagement means that we are a highly sought after team, and our philosophy of ensuringthe individual person, patient or service user is at the centre of any engagement has been recognised andadopted by others as an effective means of including all voices. The commissioned work that we take on givesus the chance to work, and learn, collaboratively with other groups and organisations whilst creating newengagement and networking opportunities. Any surplus revenue generated is fed back into HWC core projectsto ensure we can deliver extra services.
Our team of sessional staff provide us with the increased staff capacity during these commissioned projects sothat our core staff can continue to concentrate on our day to day work.
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We’ve bought a Chatty Van so that we can meet and hear the views of people who may live in the most rural areas of the county - if you can’t get to us we’ll come to you!
Our core staff team is supported by a dedicated, talented team of volunteers and is extended further by apool of skilled sessional staff. The diverse range of skills, experiences and contacts that they bring enhancesthe scope of work we can undertake and increases our capacity. It is because of them that even with a countyas large as ours we can be covering simultaneous engagement events from Brampton to Barrow (93 miles) andanywhere in between.
Our volunteers and sessional staff care passionately about health and care services in our county, and theircommitment is evident in their willingness to support our work, even when challenged by the Cumbriangeography and weather, be it a rainy morning on Alston Moor or a windy afternoon in Shap, they never let usdown.
Our Board comprises nine voluntary members who bring with them a clear vision of how we should fulfill ourstatutory functions. They give us their time, energy and enthusiasm by attending regular quarterly boardmeetings to ensure our work remains compliant, focused and on track with the Healthwatch England QualityStatements. We are most fortunate that many members of our Board have a “hands-on” approach and havejoined with the core team in project planning and supporting engagement events.
Our volunteers and sessional staff bring with them a tapestry of life experiences and these both reflect andshape our work in a uniquely Cumbrian way – thank you to you all.
Our People
Finance
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
Income
Funding received from local authority to deliver local Healthwatch statutoryactivities.
£
£250,173
Additional income. £57,500
Total income £307,673
Expenditure £
Operational costs £105,675
Staffing costs £169,165
Office costs £3,024
Total expenditure £277,864
Balance brought forward £29,809
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Contact usPeople First Independent Advocacy is contracted by Cumbria County Council to deliver the statutory functionsof a local Healthwatch. To get in touch the contact details for our registered main office are provided below.
Healthwatch Cumbria, Best Life Building, 4-8 Oxford Street, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 2AH
Phone number: 03003 038 037Email: [email protected] Website: http://healthwatchcumbria.co.uk Twitter: @HealthwatchcumbFacebook:@healthwatchcumbria
We will be making this annual report publicly available in July 2018 by publishing it on our website andsharing it with Healthwatch England, CQC, NHS England, Clinical Commissioning Group/s, Overview andScrutiny 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 Cumbria 2018
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Annual Report 2017 | 2018
Healthwatch Cumbria, Best Life Building, 4-8 Oxford Street, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 2AH
healthwatchcumbria.co.uk
© Copyright Healthwatch Cumbria 2018
AnnualReport2017 | 2018
We’re Listening
