Health: Local Healthwatch Organisations

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

That is potentially within their power, although it is for local Healthwatches which find themselves in that position to consult their commissioning local authority to make sure that the local authority is happy with whatever the proposals are.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

If they are to have a role with regard to complaints following the recommendations in the Clwyd report, will additional resources be provided?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, we will be responding to the recommendations from the Clwyd/Hart review in the context of our response to the Francis inquiry, so there is a limit to what I can say today. In answer to the noble Lord, I think that the local Healthwatch has an important role to play as patient champion and it is right that individual local Healthwatch organisations have access to information about complaints so that they can spot the themes and trends that emerge from them.