02.11.18
Healthwatch workforce numbers fall by a fifth as report warns of ‘perilous’ state of funding
More reductions in Healthwatch funding have seen the number of full-time staff in the network fall by 22% over the last two years, Healthwatch has revealed in its annual State of Support study.
The report found that funding received by local Healthwatch services fell by 4.3% between 2017-18 and 2018-19, meaning that total statutory funding has fallen by 35% since 2013 at a time when health spending has increased by 8.5% over the same period.
The impact of the funding reductions, which Healthwatch has raised with Matt Hancock, was the network – the health sector’s “single biggest source of user insight” – “now being comprised in places.”
All local authorities in England have a legal duty to commission local Healthwatch services for their community, finding out what people want from health and social care and sharing these views with those running the services.
The total funding received by the Healthwatch network this year was just over £26m, and the 4.3% reduction in funding this represents is concentrated to a third of local Healthwatch services.
These services have seen an average reduction in funding of 10.4%, with some seeing budgets reduced by nearly half, which has resulted in many cutting their workforce.
Healthwatch praised the work of over 5,000 volunteers at its services, but said that if public engagement was to be done properly then a professional infrastructure was needed.
It warned that “without this, people are too easily ignored and health and care services ignore their voice at their peril.”
The Healthwatch’s research found that while funding was reduced, demand for its services increased with more than 400,000 people engaging with local Healthwatch, a 17% increase from last year.
The chair of Healthwatch, Sir Robert Francis, wrote to the health secretary expressing his concerns over the report and the “perilous state of the Healthwatch network’s funding.”
Francis called for the government to “give people a strong voice in big decisions about health and care,” and requested a meeting with Hancock to discuss the Healthwatch investment.
Image credit - sturti
Enjoying NHE? Subscribe here to receive our weekly news updates or click here to receive a copy of the magazine!