Making care better by working together

By Imelda Redmond, National Director, Healthwatch England

I was delighted to see that ‘Sharing Power’ was the theme for this year’s co-production week. It’s a topic close to Healthwatch’s heart, and at the very core of what we do – empowering people to speak up and encouraging professionals to listen, in order to make care better together.

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has been at the forefront of this movement for some time now, breaking down barriers, and supporting thousands of frontline staff and services to better understand the value of working in partnership with the public. 

At Healthwatch, what we always see is that services work much better when people are listened to and invited to give their opinion on what’s working well and what isn’t. We’ve heard some great examples of how, when we as health and social care experts take a step back to gain a fresh look and respond to what people want, it can lead to inspiring changes.

For example, Tony from Durham spoke up because he struggled to find a care home for his mum as there wasn’t enough information available online. His council took the time to listen, and now ensure that every care home in the county publish consistent information about their service on a single website, making it easier for families to find support.

But for every story like Tony’s, we unfortunately do hear others where experiences are not positive. This week, we published a report highlighting people’s experiences of dementia care, and the devastating effect on families when they ask for support but feel ignored.

So I must ask, why aren’t we consistently making time for these important conversations? Whilst resources in health and social care are undoubtedly overstretched, and time is limited, I fully believe that if professionals and the public continue to work together we can improve care even further.