The Public Health
Contribution of third
sector and community
agencies
Today
• Healthwatch – who we are
• How the Third sector and community agencies
contribute
• Specific contributions and examples
• Ideas and co-production
• George as a case study…
Consumer champion
 Healthwatch Hertfordshire is
the new, independent,
consumer champion for health,
public health, and social care in
Hertfordshire
 Our job is to represent every
resident in Hertfordshire who
wants to have a voice on the
services that are available
 We provide evidence based
influence to improve services
and health and wellbeing across
Hertfordshire
 Healthwatch will help people to
find information about local
health and care services
Working together
• Healthwatch is committed to
working with voluntary and
community sector organisations
to ensure the voices of service
users and communities are
heard and represented
• We have a role to represent the
Voluntary sector on the Health
and wellbeing Board
• Healthwatch will also work
with the statutory sector
including work with Clinical
Commissioning Groups, the
Care Quality Commission,
Health Scrutiny to make sure
that services meet citizens’
needs
Healthwatch – our roles with public
health
If we are successful our contributions will
include…
•Raising awareness of inequalities identified by
Public Health, for example obesity
•Holding public health to account
•Shared research and development e.g.
Hertsopedia, JSNA
•Public feedback
Third sector and community
agencies contributions
• Day centre example in your programme gives
practical achievable approaches. This shows how
everyone can make a contribution, locally and
immediately. How do we also make wider
contribution?
• As a sector we will achieve most if we are
agile, committed, enthusiastic, not bureaucratic,
outcome focused, committed to partnership
• And least if we are
Rule bound, parochial, exclusive, judgmental,
arrogant, posturing, traditional, self interested
Third sector and community agencies
contributions…
social capital
•Third sector projects are frequently produced
with the aim of developing social networks,
building social capital and reducing isolation
amongst vulnerable people.
•These positively target health through
improvements in general wellbeing and the better
dissemination of healthcare messages.
Third sector and community agencies
contributions….
Expertise
• Providing expert knowledge of local needs and
preferences, or of knowledge of a condition,
allowing the potential to develop more
effective and relevant initiatives
• Our Healthwatch session with Public Health
included wide range of experts e.g. Carers in
Herts, Headway, North Herts People First, Herts
Aid, CAB etc.
Third sector and community
agencies contributions..
Effective and efficient delivery
• Direct work to deliver lots of initiatives
around sexual health, food and healthy
eating initiatives, active living projects and
support for early years and older people.
• Volunteers may be drawn from within
communities
• help provide a flexible and economically
efficient organisational structure.
Third sector and community agencies
contributions….
Independence
•Shared approaches or trusted community
organisations can have an impact that the
statutory sector can’t always achieve
•Not seen as remote, less difficulty in
targeting a message, lessen risk of being
seen as preaching
Third sector and community agencies
contributions…
Empowering/enabling the user
•Empowering service users to manage their own
health and social care provision has been shown
to lead to greater choice, autonomy, control and
independence.
•Evidence has demonstrated that self-directed
support is more likely to be successful with an
active local third sector partly because the sector
is often well placed to advise and support selfdirected support users
Third sector and community agencies
contributions….
Feedback
• Might allow feedback without the need for
complicated and unduly mediated
communication routes.
• If organisations are embedded within
geographical and service user communities,
they should be closer to community views
• Recent example around healthy eating
initiatives and BME communities
Third sector and community
agencies contributions…
Community Leadership
• Some groups have been generated by members
of a particular community in order to fill gaps
they have identified in service provision.
• Well positioned to be agents of change
Third sector and community
agencies contributions….
Co-production
• Design of services together
• Involvement in developing strategies
• Working together to find solutions and
approaches
• Well London: communities working together
for a healthier city
• Involving people rather than telling them…
Third sector and community
agencies contributions….
Ideas and initiatives
Lots…
• Repair shed in Dacorum
• Running and walking clubs
• Self support networks e.g. Depression Alliance
• Timebanking and George
Healthwatch - Getting involved
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Stakeholders panel
Supporting a priority
Enter and view
Information sharing
Talking to us
Social networking