Board Director
APPLICATION PACK
1. Introduction
2. What is Healthwatch
3. Healthwatch in Blackburn with Darwen
4. Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen Board
5. Composition of Board
6. Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen Non-Exec Person Specification
7. Eligibility
8. Application Process
1. Introduction
This pack outlines the vision for Healthwatch nationally and locally.
It provides information about the new role of the Chairperson in leading the work of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen, to champion the views of people in the Borough to improve health and social care services.
2. What is Healthwatch?
The Government’s health and social care reforms are centred on the principle ‘no decision about me, without me’, meaning that service users and the public must be at the heart of all health and social care service delivery.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires each local authority area to set up a new organisation called Healthwatch by 1st April 2013
Local Healthwatch will build on the work of Local Involvement Networks (LINks), with some additional roles and powers provided by the Act.
The vision as set out in the Healthwatch Transition Plan published on March 29th 2011 by the Department of Health
‘Healthwatch will be the independent consumer champion for the public – locally and nationally – to promote better outcomes in health for all and in social care for adults.
Healthwatch will be representative of diverse communities. It will provide intelligence –
including evidence from people’s views and experiences – to influence the policy, planning, commissioning and delivery of health and social care. Locally, it will also provide information
and advice to help people access and make choices about services as well as accessing independent complaints advocacy to support people if they need help to complain about NHS services.
Healthwatch will have credibility and public trust through being responsive and acting on concerns when things go wrong, and operating effectively and efficiently.’
3.0 Healthwatch in Blackburn with Darwen
The responsibility to establish a Healthwatch in each area has been placed on the Local Authority. Blackburn with Darwen Local Authority has supported proposals by Carers Federation to set up Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen.
Local Healthwatches are required:
· To be established as an independent corporate body.
· To operate as a social enterprise.
· To be able to employ its own staff and involve volunteers.
· To keep accounts and make annual reports available to the public.
Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen and its Board will have strong involvement from volunteers.
The new organisation will be set up as a social enterprise, established by a membership, but led by a new strategic board.
3.1 Functions of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen
The functions of Local Healthwatch (LHW) are described in the Health and Social Care Act. Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen will reflect the requirements of the Act and will:
· Provide information and advice to the public about accessing health and social care services and choice in relation to aspects of those services.
· Promote and support the involvement of people in the monitoring, commissioning and provision of local care services.
· Obtain the views of people about their needs for, and experience of, local care services and make those views known to those involved in the commissioning, provision and scrutiny of care services.
· Make reports and make recommendations about how those services could or should be improved.
· Make the views and experiences of people from Blackburn with Darwen known to Healthwatch England helping it to carry out its role as national champion.
· The “enter and view” power of LINks will transfer to LHW, meaning that visits can be made (including unannounced ones where there is sufficient justification) to all publicly funded health and social care services, providing support for adults. Once on site, authorised representatives can talk to patients and others and observe what is going on. It will report on its findings.
3.2 Principles of Local Healthwatch
· It must be independent, impartial and trusted in the local community.
· Leadership must be highly visible, respected and accountable to local people.
· It must be recognised as the statutory route for the public, patients, service users and carers to express views about health and adult social care.
· It must have a good understanding of local voluntary and community groups, and other public, patient, service user and carer networks.
· It must engage those groups and individuals who want to contribute and allow them to express their aspirations and views.
· It must reach out to those groups and individuals who do not actively engage and enable them to express their aspirations and views.
· It must understand national NHS, public health and adult/transition social care policy.
· It must be able to interpret information about NHS, public health and adult/transition social care.
· It must be able to collect, consider and debate diverse opinions and develop a consistent narrative that articulates the most important issues clearly and consistently.
· It must be able to take a strategic view of local NHS, public health and adult social care priorities whilst remaining sensitive to local issues, to ensure that services are appropriate to the particular communities they serve.
· It should develop excellent relationships with commissioners and providers of NHS, public health and adult social care services.
· It should provide a route to represent the opinions of groups and individuals to the Health and Wellbeing Board.
· It must be authoritative and credible when representing public, patients’, service users’ and carers’ aspirations and views.
· It must be able to hold statutory organisations to account for addressing any issues raised.
· It must be able to help people to access information and signpost them to services, thus helping them exercise choice.
· It must empower and facilitate people to speak out, including through NHS complaints advocacy.
· It must be recognisable and accessible, having a high profile supported by a clear brand and identity. It will effectively communicate its role and functions to the public, patients, service users and carers, and to staff in those services funded by the NHS, public health and social care.
· It should be properly resourced, well managed and operate transparently.
4.0 Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen Board
4.1 Key Responsibilities
The Board will have responsibility for the governance of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen. The Board’s key role is to:
• Establish a corporate structure for Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen that reflect the needs and population of the Borough
• Determine strategic direction and policies.
• Ensure the activities of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen reflect the diverse communities of the Borough, not just the views of majority groups or the most high profile issues.
• Establish and oversee control and risk management arrangements.
• Ensure that Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen achieves its aims and objectives.
• Oversee ‘Operational Management’ and ensure the implementation of Board policies.
The key responsibilities and accountabilities of the Board are:
4.2 Leadership and direction
• Define the vision and values of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen and ensure that these are realised and upheld.
• Define the direction of the organisation’s business, services and activities.
• Ensure clear accountabilities and communication within the organisation and monitor the activities of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen.
• Maintain a clear public, patient, service user, carer and wider community focus.
• Create a positive environment which fosters constructive challenge to assumptions about the organisation.
• Review Board composition, performance and succession planning regularly.
4.3 Strategic development
• Review the key strategic aims and determine the strategic objectives and outcomes required.
• Drive the development of the strategic plan, providing constructive challenge and ensuring its effectiveness.
• Approve an annual operational plan, budgets for both revenue and capital expenditure and financial arrangements that support the achievement of the strategic and operational plans.
• Establish a framework for approving and regularly reviewing policies and plans to achieve the objectives of the organisation.
• Ensure that all assets are managed efficiently and effectively, and that capacity is properly utilised, so as to maintain long term viability and sustainability of Healthwatch.
4.4 Risk management
• Oversee a framework for the identification, management and review of risks, including agreeing risk.
• Contribute to the review and evaluation of strategic risks, receiving regular reports on these and emergent risks.
• Ensure that a positive culture of managing opportunities, threats and uncertainties is embedded throughout the organisation.
• Determine policies and decisions on all matters that might create a significant financial or other risk to Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen, or which raise material matters of principle.
4.5 Internal controls framework
• Establish and oversee a framework of delegation and systems of internal controls.
• Draw up a schedule of significant matters specifically reserved for the Board’s decision.
• Obtain systematic information that provides assurance on the effectiveness of internal controls.
4.6 Performance monitoring
• Regularly review and monitor performance and quality in relation to plans, budgets, controls and decisions.
• Obtain and consider performance and quality information in relation to public, patient, service user and carer feedback and benchmark against comparable organisations and activities.
4.7 Probity and integrity
• Approve each year’s accounts prior to publication.
• Obtain assurance that Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen’s affairs are conducted lawfully and in accordance with generally accepted and specific standards of reporting, performance and probity.
• Ensure that Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen complies with all relevant regulatory and statutory requirements.
• Ensure Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen and its representatives act within the Nolan Principles in public life.
4.8 Transparency and openness
• Review regularly Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen’s openness arrangements, taking account of good practice developments.
• Be accountable to members of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen’s, service commissioners, Healthwatch England and citizens of Blackburn with Darwen.
• Publish Annual Report and Accounts each year, highlighting priorities, progress & key issues.
• Establish policy for communicating with, and involving, public, patients, service users, carers, partners and other stakeholders about its work and performance.
4.9 Representing Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen
• Promote the organisation at key events and other meetings, and establish constructive, high quality relationships, with key current and potential partners and stakeholders, internal and external, as required.
• Monitor, safeguard and enhance the reputation of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen.
4.10 Executive and management arrangements
• Ensure there are appropriate policies and systems in place to recruit, develop, retain and remunerate staff after the initial term of the contract.
• To nominate the Chair to sit on Blackburn with Darwen’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB).
• Ensure necessary support and information is available for the representative to be an effective member of the HWB.
• Ensure that meetings of the Board (and any committees) are open for the public to attend, promoted in advance and held in appropriate venues. Matters of a confidential nature are noted as such and will be considered as closed meetings of the Board.
• A minimum of four meetings of the Board will be held each year.
• Set and review the Board’s Regulatory Documents, including voting rights and quorum.
5.0 Composition of the Board
The Board of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen will be made up of up to 12 members with a diversity of skills, perspectives and experiences. In particular we wish to ensure the Board reflects balance of experience and skills across health inequalities, human resource management, volunteering, finance, complex needs. We also wish to ensure the Board reflects the rich cultural background of the Borough and is sensitive to the views of both young and older residents. We also be looking to develop a Board Internship to provide an opportunity for a resident to develop Board level skills
Within this there will be a number of specific core roles to which people will be appointed and this includes.
Board members Core Roles
• The Chair
• Deputy Chair, to take on the role of Chair in his/her absence
• Communications and Volunteering Officer – to ensure the Communications strategy is set and adhered to, and volunteering base is developed as a priority
• Finance Officer - to be the legally responsible person on the Board for accounting for financial expenditure
• Human Resources
• Health Inequalities
• Complex Needs
.
6.0 Members of the Board - role outline
6.1 The Role
• To work to develop Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen as an independent corporate
organisation
• To act in the capacity of Director of the Company, under the Companies Act 2006.
• To contribute to the development and delivery of the strategic plan for Healthwatch
Blackburn with Darwen in line with the requirements of the Department of Health and
Healthwatch England, through clear governance, effective strategic planning, and good
management.
6.2 Responsibilities and Tasks
Promoting good governance:
1. Oversee governance of the organisation, working with the Chair and other members of the
Board to ensure:
• Compliance with the financial regulations, standing orders, delegated authorities and agreed codes of governance;
• To understand roles and responsibilities with appropriate arrangements for appraisal, training and development;
• To commit to Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen’s approach to valuing diversity and equal opportunities through its service delivery and employment.
• Attend and contribute to regular Board meetings to ensure key issues are discussed by the Board in a timely manner and addressed with an agreed approach.
2. Contribute to the performance of the Board:
• The Board’s business is conducted efficiently and effectively through a framework of delegation and systems of internal control that also enables the work of Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen to be carried on effectively between meetings of the Board.
• Implementation of frameworks for effective financial control & management of risk.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation through the use of expertise, skills and experiences, either as a Board member in an appointed capacity, or to committees/work groups.