Progress report for health group

HEALTH chiefs were due to be briefed on the progress made by Healthwatch Halton in the last year.

The group, which is tasked with monitoring the quality of services in the borough and gathering feedback from residents, highlighted key figures including a 41% increase in the number of visitors to its website reaching 65,000 users, 12 care home visits and two other visits to services, and the gathering of 284 responses to surveys.

Its annual report was presented to Halton Council’s health board yesterday, Wednesday, October 4, and revealed that Healthwatch Halton had alerted the local authority over safeguarding concerns found on two care home visits prompting action from the council.

Healthwatch Halton added that it also received 350 requests for advice including 12 requests for where to register after the closure of Windmill Hill general practice surgery.

The organisation also carried out a survey on domestic care, with the questionnaire sent to 800 homes and resulted in a report that Halton Council said it would act upon to improve services.

The watchdog also launched a project to encourage primary schools to express their thoughts on health services, ultimately achieving participation levels of 869 children aged five to 11 years in its first 12 months.

A summary of Healthwatch Halton’s accounts said it had an income of £139,435 in 2016-17 and spent £133,537 with the balance brought forward.

Costs were broken down to £18,185 on operational spending, £88,304 on staff and £27,048 on office premises.

Hitesh Patel, Healthwatch Halton chairman, also paid tribute to volunteer Doreen Shotton, who passed away during the year and whose expertise and passion will be sorely missed and we remember her often’.

Mr Patel said the organisation’s work had been a success during the year.

He said: “This has been a really positive year for our organisation.

“I feel very optimistic that we’ve made strides which are taking Healthwatch Halton in the right direction.

“Our work has been ably supported by our staff and volunteers, many of whom have been involved with the project for several years.

“Their experience and hard work has been invaluable to us.

“We have also welcomed new staff and new volunteers and benefited from their enthusiasm and fresh approaches to tackling challenges.”