Dr Paul Worthington
Cwm Taf CHC
Recent activity
Comments (110)
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Comment on: Local Healthwatch 'bound and gagged'
Insiderpersepctive. Interesting thought, and I agree with you on the critical role LAs can play. As CHCs in wales we have Councillors on our Boards But...your comment begs a lot of questions. By 'include health' what do you mean ? - Is it commissioning ? In which case, how do you get proper clinical engagement ? Good commissioning has to have this. - Is it Service provision ? If the latter, do you pull all service providers (including any providers f4rom outside the NHS) under LA control ? - do you just put health issues along with trasnport/education/waste collection etc in a manifesto and say that gives whoever's elected a mandate ? Health has a much motre year on year (and even month on month) dynamic than that. And the European picture is much more complex than you suggestm - I'm not sure you can justify your claim of 'many' having such a structure in place. A lot of claims are made for the value lof different Europaen models that don't entirely hold scrutiny.
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Comment on: Local Healthwatch 'bound and gagged'
I'm follwoing the debate with interest; I'm Chief Officer of a CHC in Wales - yes, we still have them here and the Minister at Welsh Government has recently committed to their continuation. We have clear statutory duties and rights. Two of our key jobs are holding local Health Boards to account for their services and also being involved in service change proposlas; we have to be involved and consulted. If we can't agree on proposals, we have the right to refer ultimately our concerns to the Minister in cardiff for their decision. Yes, we work closely with Health Boards, but it isn't cosy. We think being a very present part of the discussions givsd us more chance to influence. The campaigning issue is an interesting. My individual view is that we aren't just here just to pass on the views of the public. We have to hear the bigger picture, including the views of less vocal, hard to reach groups, clinical staff and what best practice tells us. As a CHC, we aim to be an informed lay voice. If we're too active in campaigning, it can limit our opportunities to haer those that normally don't get heard. And being overtly political is not on our agenda, nor should it be. At the same time, we've had some tough discussions nationally about how CHCs interface with campaigining groups and there's still work to do. The Healthwatch regs as I read them do seem destined to create heated discussion.
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Comment on: Supporting CCGs in patient engagement
Interesting initiative. The NHS in England has been struggling with patient engagement for a long time, and the new structures won't make it any easier. Here in wales we still have Community Health Councils, who have a statutory responsibility for patient engagement and we think it works well. A couple of points ion the article are worth commenting on: -n the link with academia is an great idea. We're small organisations, as are most who need to engage with patients. Making pooled use of tested and proven research expertise is sound practice - don't underestimate how difficult it can be to get robust patient engagement in place. It's time-consuming if done properly, but worthless unless it is done properly - don't stick top the NHS. Other organisations eg Councils, will have public engagement processes in place. Work with them - be cautious about the Third Sector as a proxy for the patient voice. They can be, but many 3rd sector colleagues are adamant they are not such a voice - they are service providers. Be clear about where indepenedence lies
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Comment on: At last, a consumer-led NHS?
On the paperless office; I recall meeting with a GP who spointed to the empty sweep of his desk, which contained only a computer and a phone and said "I run a paperless office - why can't evryone else ?". Yet he was sat 20 feet from a practice admin and reception area which was stuiffed to the gunnels with patient's notes......
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Comment on: Outside groups could vie with NICE over guidance
I think we're in danger of talking about different things here. I'm not convinced at all that the role of Patient bodies should be developing commissioning guidance. I'm Chief Officer of a CHC in Wales and don't see that as our role at all. But devloping guidance should the end product of something that involves input from a range of interests, including clinicians and patients. Henmce, I think Terence is right in seeing the value of member involvement. Equally, if we're going to have a number of bodies producing (orbeing asked to produce) guidance, ther has to be structured and accredited process. And there has to be some prioritisation - when I was involved in commissioning, one of our biggest problems was being able to absorb and constructively the sheer volume, complexity and amount of guidance coming our way. There needs to be a fiocus on key areas which produces realitstic and workable ideas.
