Healthwatch Sefton welcomes the King’s Fund report highlighting the importance of independent patient voice

On 27 June 2025, the government announced plans to close Healthwatch England and the network of 153 local Healthwatch organisations. In line with recommendations from the Dash review of patient safety, the government plans to transfer the strategic functions of Healthwatch England to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the statutory functions of local Healthwatch organisations to NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) on health care and local authorities for views on adult social care.

Taking into account these planned changes, this research explores what can be learned from the Healthwatch model, including what has worked well, what the challenges have been and how this can inform the government’s planned changes to how patient and service user experiences are collected and used. The King’s Fund reviewed existing evidence, conducted interviews and carried out two workshops with local and national stakeholders.

On 20th March, the King’s Fund’s published their insightful report, “The Future of Patient Voice; Learning from the Healthwatch Model”, reviewing the national Healthwatch model and identifying how local Healthwatch organisations contribute to shaping health and social care.  Please click on the link below to read the full report:

The future_of_patient_voice

The report, part funded by Healthwatch England but independently researched and authored by The King’s Fund, draws on workshops and interviews with a wide range of stakeholders including local Healthwatch teams, NHS England, the CQC, voluntary organisations, and other patient experience bodies.

Key Findings from the report included:

• The importance of Healthwatch independence, with the ability to reflect people’s experiences without pressure or bias from organisational interests, also enabling impartial and trusted advice and guidance to help people navigate the health and social care system, and understand their rights.

• The strength of the hub and spoke model (Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch), creating a clear upward flow of insight into national priorities and help the future of health and social care.

• The significance of both the quantity and quality of evidence collected, providing community insight into their experiences of health and social care and utilising this to create an understanding of emerging issues.

Considerations for the Future

The King’s Fund presents several system level considerations, including the need to:

• Ensure that it maintains a voice that is independent of government and services.
• Gather unsolicited, varied and rich community insight, including from seldom heard groups.
• Ensure patient and public voice is vital to how services are both commissioned and provided.
• Any future model must enhance – not weaken – the system’s capacity to hear, understand and respond to people’s experiences.
• Provide a level of independence from the health and care system to ensure that whatever is put in place can speak truth to power and raise difficult messages where necessary.
• Maintain a hub and spoke architecture for any future model, but there should be clarity on how this aligns more deliberately to local government, new ICB clusters and neighbourhood structures and footprints.