Kent is recruiting members to an interim Shadow Local HealthWatch Board

Kent Local Healthwatch Development

Process for Appointing to Interim Shadow Local Healthwatch Board

Introduction

This document sets out the process for appointing/recruiting members to an interim Shadow Local HealthWatch (LHW) Board to support the transition from the existing Local Involvement Networks (LINks) to the establishment of the formal Local Healthwatch Organisation (LHWO) in March 2013.

Kent Shadow LHW will prepare the way for the formal LHWO by setting up and testing its proposed working arrangements, structures and processes.

The Context

Local Involvement Networks (LINks), which currently represent the public voice on health and social care services, will be replaced by newly-created Local Healthwatch (LHW) organisations from April 2013, which will have additional responsibilities for an Information and Signposting service for health and social care and potentially an NHS Complaints Advocacy Service.

LHW will be commissioned by and accountable to local authorities but will operate independently. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 provides local authorities with some freedom and flexibility over the organisational form of their Local Healthwatch

Kent County Council is working with voluntary organisations, LINk and other key stakeholders to develop a Local Healthwatch that will best meet the needs of the Kent community.

Development work currently underway is looking in more detail at:

·         The operating model – how the organisation will manage the delivery of the services, who will be involved and how that will be managed on a day to day basis

·         The governance structure – how the organisation will be managed at a strategic level and who should have a say in the big decisions.

·         The legal form – this will be driven by decisions made regarding the operating model and the governance structure.

·         How the information and signposting service will be provided and how it will fit in with other information services in Kent

·         How a NHS Complaints Advocacy Service might fit in with and support complaint procedures

·         Learning from the work of the Kent LINk and supporting them to provide a “living legacy”

·         What sort of contract and outcomes framework Local Healthwatch will have with Kent County Council

The Aim of Establishing the Shadow LHW Board

Kent County Council aims to establish an interim Shadow LHW Board in September 2012 to run for 6-8 months - until the formal LHW organisation establishes its own governance structure - to test and begin to embed the emerging model, for effective handover to the formal LHW, as it becomes established in April 2013.

The Shadow LHW Board will work closely with LINk during the transition period to build on the LINk legacy and begin to create the developing model in practice, to ensure that the new requirements of a Local Healthwatch can be successfully met in Kent.

The Role of Local Healthwatch

As well as the duties currently carried out by LINk, Local Healthwatch will:

·         provide information about local health and social care services

·         potentially provide a NHS Complaints Advocacy Service

·         support individuals as well as the community

·         have a local and national voice, through Healthwatch England

·         alert Healthwatch England to concerns about specific care providers and issues that cannot be resolved locally

·         participate in decision-making via Local Authority Health and Wellbeing Boards

·         play an integral role in the preparation of the statutory Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies

·         Provide a more evidence based system of feedback to commissioners and providers of health and social care. 

·         Help clinical commissioning groups to make sure that services really are designed to meet citizens’ needs

The Role of the Shadow LHW

The interim Kent Shadow LHW will:

·         Liaise with and manage the transition from LINk to the new LHW Organisation

·         Test the process, structure and organisational model, being developed with partners, in preparation for the establishment of the formal LHW Organisation by April 2013

·         Test out the processes that best fit a two-tier authority

·         Within the model develop strategies to address the duties outlined above

Kent Shadow LHW Structure

The Shadow Board will be a member-led organisation that will reflect the needs of the people in Kent and demonstrate its capability and competence in representing the public on both health and social care issues.

The Shadow Board will comprise up to 12 core members with a larger number of associate members who can be called upon to assist with projects due to their special interests or experience in the field(s) - to mirror the model to be adopted in creating the formal Local HealthWatch Board in March 2013.

Nominations for membership will be invited from existing LINk members, voluntary organisations, community sector and people using or potentially in need of health and/or social care services in Kent. As transition from LINk is a key function of the Board the Chairman of Kent LINk Governors Group will ex officio become a member of the Shadow Board and further membership from the LINk is anticipated

It is essential that the core membership has the right skills and attributes to fulfil the Shadow Board’s function.  Successful applicants will therefore demonstrate the ability to fulfil the requirements laid out within the role specification and eligibility criteria outlined in this application pack. All LINk members will be automatically eligible to become associate members.

Role Specification for Kent Shadow LHW Board Members

Members will be required to carry out and contribute to the following:

·         Build an organisational culture that values and practices citizen engagement

·         Contribute to developing the strategic direction for Kent Local Healthwatch

·         Develop a work plan that reflects the wider public’s interests and concerns and is balanced between health and social care for the interim period to enable it to perform its functions effectively and ensure safe and effective handover to new governance structure post-April 2013

·         Work with Kent LINk to learn from its legacy, agree transfer of work, as appropriate, and ensure the work of both organisations are aligned

·         Identify, approve and oversee a range of projects through to evaluation of impact and publishing reports

·         Agree and oversee primary and secondary research into areas of concern and commissioning priorities to develop a knowledge hub for commissioners

·         Establish the governance and internal structure of the Shadow Board, based on the locally-developed approach, with a view to testing and shaping these in preparation for the establishment of the formal LHW in April 2013

·         Contribute to the development of strategies to address all the duties that will be required of the future LHW organisation

·         Oversee and promote wide and deep engagement with the public, service users and carers, including “hard to reach” groups, to gain their views on health and social care issues within Kent

·         Attend meetings with health and social care commissioners to raise awareness of the role of LHW and represent public views

·         Work with health and social care providers to raise awareness of the role of LHW and capture and consolidate existing patient experience feedback

·         Attend forums, meetings and other events with stakeholders, particularly patient and public and commissioner/provider groups, to promote and deliver on the work of the LHW

·         Contribute to the specifications for the information and signposting service across health and social care

·         Potentially contribute to the specifications for the NHS Complaints Advocacy servic

·         Provide and publish regular reports on its agreed programme of work

·         Provide regular updates on the operational and governance framework in practice and make recommendations in preparation for the establishment of the formal LHW Organisation in April 2013

·         Work closely with identified KCC officers and associate members to carry out the above function

Person specification

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

Eligibility

Applications will be considered from:

·         Anyone who is over the age of 18 and lives within Kent County Council’s boundaries

·         Anyone who uses health or social care services within the Kent County Council area

Exclusions

Applications from the following will not be considered:

·         Health or social care providers (or their employees) whose main function is to provide services to people within Kent

·         Employees whose organisation  has a statutory role to commission health or social care services for Kent (applications from non-executive directors invited)

·         People whose employment involves commissioning or making strategic policy for other Kent County Council services

·         All county councillors and any district councillors who hold an executive position in their council.

Criminal Record Bureau checks will be mandatory

Application process

Application forms to become a member of Kent Shadow LHW must be filled out and returned by  16^th July  by e-mail to  kentph08@kent.gov.uk or by post to

FAO Tish Gailey, Room 3.23, Sessions House, County Hall, County Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1XQ

If you have any queries about the application process please contact

Julie Van Ruyckevelt on 07799472930 or

Tish Gailey on 01622 696802 or at the above address.

Appointment process

An appointment panel will assess applications against the criteria within the Person Specification.

The panel may call applicants for interview prior to appointment at their discretion although this may not be deemed necessary or timely.

An interview-only assessment may be carried out for applicants for whom an application form may not be appropriate (for example those with sensory impairment),.

Appointments will be announced in August and the first meeting of the Shadow Board will be convened in September. Members will remain in office until the formal LHW has established its governance arrangements, when members will be able to apply to become a member of the new structure – although this is not automatically conferred.

Members will be required to attend the majority of formal Shadow LHW Board meetings and should also be willing to commit time to the work that emerges, which might be between 4 and 6 hours a week. Members will receive travel and subsistence expenses for work related to the business of the Shadow LHW.

Unsuccessful applicants will be invited to become associate members (further information below).

Shadow LHW support and development

Members of Kent Shadow LHW will receive induction training at the outset. Further support and development will be identified collectively and individually to ensure members are confident and competent in their ability to fulfil the specified role and ensure the success of the Shadow LHW

Associate Members

Anyone can become an associate member of Healthwatch and anyone who applies for but is unsuccessful in becoming an executive member will automatically become an Associate.

Associate members will:

·         Be asked whether they have particular areas of interest, knowledge and/or expertise they would like to be considered in how they become involved

·         Be invited to take part in community forums and projects as agreed by the Shadow LHW

·         Be co-opted onto sub-committees related to their identified areas of interest, as appropriate

·         Act as a link between the Shadow LHW and the wider public

·         Be a champion for patient and public engagement in health and social care improvement

All Kent LINk members will be eligible to automatically become associate members.

To become an Associate Member people are asked to email kentph08@kent.gov.uk