Introduction to the day

Chris McCann, Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns for Healthwatch England will be opening each day of Healthwatch Week with an overview of the day ahead.

What will you gain from attending? In this session, delegates will find out what you can expect from sessions, and hear reflections from the previous day.

Who is this session for? All attendees

Speakers: Chris McCann, Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns, Healthwatch England

What would help you hold systems and services to account?

In this session you will have the opportunity to share what works well when holding services and systems to account, as well as the challenges you have faced – and what support and / or resources you would have found helpful.

What will you gain from attending?You will learn from other people’s experiences in the network of holding systems to account as well as hearing about the programme of work being developed by Healthwatch England.

Who is this session for? Lead officers, chairs, board members and anybody whose role involves holding services and systems to account.

Speakers: Bren McGowan, Senior Policy Advisor, Healthwatch England with Kate Scribbins, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Surrey and Julie Callin, Projects Officer, Healthwatch Surrey

How can you make your communications as accessible as possible?

In 2022 we are launching a national campaign to help NHS and social care decision-makers understand the steps needed to ensure people get clear and accessible information that helps them make decisions and get the most out of services.  To support this campaign, this session aims to give you an understanding of accessibility, and its importance in our communications and will show you the standards we aim to meet. 

What will you gain from attending? You will learn how to improve the accessibility of your communications with practical tips and guidance on how to write accessible communications.​

Who is this session for? Anyone with a role involving communications, website or social media management, anyone who writes content or reports for their Healthwatch and lead officers who want to improve the accessibility of their Healthwatch communications.

Speakers: Sarah Osment, Communications Manager, Healthwatch England and Debbie James, Digital Communications Officer, Healthwatch England

Keynote: Tackling health inequalities

Imelda Redmond CBE, Joan Saddler OBE, Marie Gabriel CBE, Dr Bola Owolabi
The last two years have laid bare the extent of health inequalities across the country. As we look to recover from the pandemic it is vital that we address the underlying systemic issues and ensure everyone has access to the care and support they need.
 
In response Healthwatch England has put tackling health inequalities at the heart of our new five-year strategy.

What will you gain from attending? At this session you will hear from two experts in this field – Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement and Marie Gabriel CBE – Chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory. Together they will discuss why tackling health inequalities matters, the changes that need to happen and the role we can play. 

Who is this session for? All attendees

Introduced by: Imelda Redmond CBE, National Director of Healthwatch England
Chaired by: Joan Saddler OBE, Director of Partnerships and Equality at the NHS Confederation
Panellists: Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Marie Gabriel CBE, Chair, NHS Race and Health Observatory, Independent Chair, North East London Integrated Care System and Trust Chair, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Putting equality at the heart of Healthwatch

Imelda Redmond CBE
Join us to discuss our work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the progress we’ve made so far and the next steps we all need to take to create change.

What will you gain from attending? By attending this session, delegates will have the opportunity to better understand the plans and commitment that Healthwatch England is making to equality, diversity and inclusion, across our programmes of work.

Who is this session for? All Healthwatch Staff

Speakers: Imelda Redmond CBE, National Director, Healthwatch England, Joy Beishon, National Programme Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Healthwatch England and Chief Executive Officer of Healthwatch Greenwich with colleagues from the Healthwatch network

Tackling health inequalities through engagement

Hear how three local Healthwatch have used different engagement approaches to tackle health inequalities in their areas. These are:

• Engaging with people experiencing homelessness
• Engaging refugees and asylum seekers about the COVID-19 vaccine to increase awareness and uptake
• Fundraising to enable local community groups to engage people on health issues that matter to them and partner with Healthwatch to influence the system

• Insight into three different approaches to engaging with people experiencing health inequalities
• An understanding of how those approaches can be used to reduce health inequalities
• Steps to follow to replicate their approach in your area
• Knowledge of lessons learned and the time and resources needed to replicate the models
• Opportunity to ask questions

Analysing research or engagement findings by demographic data

This session aims to help you understand why it’s important that you analyse research or engagement findings by demographic data.

What will you gain from attending? You will hear from two Healthwatch about the impact of collecting and analysing findings by demographics. You will also have an opportunity to share your insight and tell us if there is anything you need from us to support you to do this.

Who is this session for? Engagement officers, research or intelligence officers, lead officers and board members.

​Speakers: Sue Edwards, Research and Insight Manager, Healthwatch England with colleagues from Healthwatch Leeds and Healthwatch South Tyneside

Hidden voices: Black Staff Network event

Professor David Olusoga OBE
Historian and broadcaster, Professor David Olusoga will discuss the role of Black and Asian communities in the development and delivery of the NHS and why it’s crucial to have often hidden voices in leadership roles. He will also take us through a history of community engagement, the barriers that exist and why, and the importance of communities being empowered to lead engagement to improve wellbeing, social capital and cohesion and health outcomes.  

What will you gain from attending? Many local Healthwatch are changing from engagement to empowerment, by providing spaces and support for communities to speak for themselves. But this is just the beginning. This session is open to all attending the conference
 
Join us at this important and thought-provoking session to understand how we can take our commitment to EDI further by ensuring our board and leadership teams reflect the hidden voices of the communities we serve. 

Who is this session for? All attendees, particularly anyone with an interested in developing and progressing equality, diversity and inclusion in their work. 

Introduced by: Joy Beishon, National Programme Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Healthwatch England and Chief Executive Officer, Healthwatch Greenwich with Danielle Oum, Committee member, Healthwatch England and Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire ICS
Speaker: Professor David Olusoga OBE

Delivering data to make a difference

With a Healthwatch in every part of the country, our collective insight is one of our big strengths as was shown with The Long Term Plan and will be increasingly needed with ICSs.
 
Come along to hear about plans to make it easier to share your data with other local Healthwatch and Healthwatch England, and improve the quality of insight we provide to deliver improvements to people’s care.
 
Tell us what you think, find out how you can get involved, and help us understand the opportunities and challenges you face when collecting insight at your local Healthwatch. With a renewed focus on data standards we want to make sure that all of what we do is safe, secure, and provides real value to the communities we serve.

What will you gain from attending? You will learn the latest information on the digital and data work and you will understand how you can get involved and stay up to date moving forward.

Who is this session for? All attendees

Speakers: Chris McCann, Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns, Gavin McGregor, Head of Network Development, Laura Blower, Digital Transformation Project Manager, Matt Sanders, Digital Systems Development Manager and Michael Samuel, CRM Lead, Healthwatch England

“I’m a volunteer, what’s my role in tackling inequalities”

Our volunteers have a important part to play in tackling inequalities, from visiting services to speaking with people in the community and recording their experiences. You will learn from speakers from a local Healthwatch and external colleagues who have started to frame their work around tackling inequalities. They will help you to think through the crucial ways that you can make a difference. This session will help you to think about your activities and the role your local Healthwatch plays in reducing inequalities for people using health and social care services.

What will you gain from attending? You will learn about ways you can re-focus your activities and projects to tackle inequalities.

Who is this session for? All Healthwatch volunteers including board and advisory group members.

Speakers: Alvin Kinch, Volunteering and Regional Network (London) Manager and Jenny Clark, Deputy Head of Engagement and Sustainability, Healthwatch England