Healthwatch Derbyshire

Healthwatch (HW) is the new independent consumer champion for health and social care which launched across England on 1st April 2013. Residents of Derbyshire will have a powerful voice locally and nationally through Healthwatch Derbyshire (HWD) – their local Healthwatch.

HWD gives the Derbyshire public a strong, independent and collective voice. Whilst we do not act on specific individual issues we do offer a signposting service and provide advice and information to the public about accessing health and social care services.

We provide a platform for local voices to have an impact on local services, not just for the people who use them, but anyone who might need to in the future. We will focus on gathering the views of people of all ages from children and young people to adults and seek to reflect the diversity of the communities of Derbyshire.

Information shared with HWD will be fed directly to those responsible for the design and delivery of services, letting them know what they are doing well and where there is room for improvement. This information will also be fed into HW England, the national body that all 152 local Healthwatch organisations across the country will feed into. This will enable areas of concern, or good practice, to be identified at a national level.