Decision Making Policy - Healthwatch Sefton

We are currently reviewing all of our policies and procedures and this page will be updated shortly.

Policy Statement

Healthwatch Sefton makes its decisions in an open and transparent way and ensures the interests of the
people of Sefton are always put first. This policy and associated procedures outline the steps taken to
ensure decisions are evidence based and lead to substantive impact in the community.

The governing regulations and standards are:

The NHS Bodies and Local Authorities (Partnership Arrangements, Care Trusts, Public Health and
Local Healthwatch) Regulations 2012 – referred to as Regulation 40 throughout this document.
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Seven Principles of Public Life (Nolan Principles).
This policy applies to all relevant decisions made by Healthwatch Sefton.

Relevant decisions

Regulation 40 requires Healthwatch Sefton to have in place and publish procedures for making relevant
decisions. Relevant decisions include:

How to undertake our activities.
Which health and care services we are looking at covering with our activities.
The amounts we will spend on our activities.
Whether to request information.
Whether to make a report or a recommendation.
Which premises to Enter and View and when those premises are to be visited.
Whether to refer a matter to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Whether to report a matter concerning our activities to another person.
Any decisions about sub-contracting.

Relevant decisions do not include day-to-day activity that may be required to carry out exploratory work
prior to making a relevant decision.

Who may make such decisions?

The Healthwatch Sefton Board/ Healthwatch Sefton Steering Group will be responsible for making
relevant decisions. The Board/ Steering group will have the power to delegate some of the relevant
decision making to the Lead Officer of Healthwatch Sefton, for example, small pieces of work which do
not have a substantive impact on staff or financial resources.

All relevant decisions, including those delegated to the Lead Officer, will be recorded in the minutes of
the Board/Steering Group meeting at which the decision was made. The minutes of all Board/ Steering
Group meetings are published on Healthwatch Sefton’s website once they have been agreed by the Board
as being a correct record of the meeting concerned.

Once a decision has been made, the staff team is responsible for implementation and delivery, with an
agreed reporting process to Board/ Steering Group.

The Board/ Steering Group of Healthwatch Sefton will reconsider a decision where new data has become
available, or if circumstances change, which might prompt it to reach a different decision, or where
there is evidence that this decision making process was not followed.

Healthwatch Sefton is delivered by Sefton Council for Voluntary Services (Sefton CVS), who ultimately
hold accountability for the delivery of the contract. Under the joint Healthwatch / Host Governance
Framework, delegated authority for decision making is given to the Healthwatch Sefton Board/ Steering
Group, whose membership comprises of volunteers/ network representatives, who live in or have a
vested interest in Sefton.

Involving lay persons or volunteers in such decisions

Healthwatch Sefton’s Board/ Steering group is composed solely of lay persons (a person who is not a
health or social care professional) and volunteers (a person who is not a paid employee of Healthwatch
Sefton). Healthwatch Sefton intends to secure broad based views on its activities wherever possible, and
involves others, particularly lay people and volunteers in its decision making.
How are decisions made?

The potential scope of the work of Healthwatch Sefton is vast – it has a responsibility for health and
social care services for all adults, children and young people in Sefton, including those who are most
vulnerable or may be excluded. This means we must prioritise the issues we focus on. The main sources
to inform our work programme are likely to come from:

People’s experiences of health and social care services that they share with us.
Evidence we proactively collect about specific areas of concern through the stories and enquiries we
hear directly, including deliberative research, public surveys and polls.
National and local data sets that evidence issues affecting large numbers of the local population and
the most excluded.
This list is not exhaustive and other relevant sources of data will be considered.

In order to prioritise, Healthwatch Sefton Board/Steering Group will carefully consider all sources of
information and decide where it can add most value. Areas to be considered include but are not limited
to:

That the issues fit with our organisational role and responsibilities, ensuring Healthwatch Sefton
delivers to its statutory remit.
How much the issue matters to local people, it must be something they care about as we are here to
be the voice of people in health and social care.
How much change Healthwatch Sefton can bring about. This enables us to make sure we are choosing
areas where we can have the greatest impact. This is important to deliver the greatest return for
our budget, maintain our independence and ensure we bring issues to the attention of the health
and care system.

Does the change need to come from Healthwatch Sefton- so we aren’t focusing on things that others
can do more easily and effectively?

Finally, the Board of Healthwatch Sefton will consider our work as a full set of priorities, as together
they need to have the greatest impact for people using health and social care services.
Steering Group meetings are open to the public, and minutes recording decisions will be available via
Healthwatch Sefton’s website.

Dealing with breaches of any procedure referred to in this policy document, including circumstances in which a breach would be referred to the local authority.

If a decision is taken in the name of Healthwatch Sefton without authorisation in the manner set out in
this policy document, the Board will determine what action is needed. This may be to either approve the
decision retrospectively, or to reverse the decision.

If the breach of the agreed procedure is considered to have also breached the contract between
Healthwatch Sefton and Sefton Local Authority, it will be reported to the Local Authority and further
action agreed between the Local Authority and Healthwatch Sefton.

In each eventuality, actions will be minuted and published on Healthwatch Sefton’s website.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion statement

Healthwatch Sefton is committed to ensuring all decisions made are free from any form of discrimination
on the grounds of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership,
pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, in accordance with the
Equality Act 2010.

Healthwatch Sefton will monitor this policy in order to identify whether it is having an adverse impact on
any group of individuals and act accordingly.

Review of policy document

The Board of Healthwatch Sefton will review the effectiveness of the decision making policy and
procedures set out in this document every two years. Any amendments to this policy and the procedures
governing the making of relevant decisions will require a simple majority of board members voting in
favour.

The amended policy document will be published on the website of Healthwatch Sefton as soon as is
practicable.

Procedures

Healthwatch Sefton undertakes to carry out the following procedures:Publish Healthwatch Sefton’s most up to date policy document on Healthwatch Sefton’s website.
Review and obtain Board approval to Healthwatch Sefton decision making policy every two years.
Ensure all Healthwatch Sefton staff are familiar with the policy and refresh their understanding and
awareness of the need for open and transparent decision making by reading the policy on a
regular basis, at a minimum after review by the Board.Publish minutes from Board meetings where decisions are made in a timely manner on Healthwatch
Sefton’s website. Where decisions are made outside of board meetings, they will be ratified at
the subsequent Board meeting.