Healthwatch Wolverhampton welcomes the Integrated Care System and new opportunities to put people at the heart of care
Integrated care systems are partnerships that bring together providers and commissioners of NHS services across a geographical area with local authorities and other local partners, to collectively plan health and care services to meet the needs of their population.
Lucie Woodruff, Acting Healthwatch Wolverhampton Manager, said:
“The introduction of the Black Country Integrated Care System gives us a unique chance to feed people’s views into the planning and running of services – especially the voices of those who are not being heard now.
“We will work hard to make sure the views of local people are represented in the new structure. We are also committed to playing our part by championing equality and inclusion, and helping services reach every bit of the community.
“When services listen and act on the experiences of patients and service users, it results in better care. We have a real chance if we can get the new system right by creating a true partnership between services and the public.
“The move to integrated care systems generally should herald a culture shift in the engagement of people and communities, so we can move beyond fragmented consultation when health and care services are legally required to, towards meaningful and proactive listening at all levels of decision-making.”
