Changes to Healthwatch: what it means for you

When people hear words like “Healthwatch is closing” or see headlines about changes to the NHS, it can understandably cause worry and confusion.

We’ve had people asking us what’s happening, whether they can still come to Healthwatch for help, and what these changes might mean for them.

We also know some of you may not be familiar with Healthwatch, or may wonder why any of this matters in day to day life.

So here’s a straightforward explanation of who we are, what we do, what we know so far about the proposed changes, and what this could mean for people in North Yorkshire.

What Healthwatch does

Healthwatch is here to listen to people’s experiences of the NHS and social care and make sure those experiences are heard by the people responsible for planning and running care.

We are independent from the organisations people tell us about. This means people can share both good and bad experiences with us openly, and we can raise concerns and highlight themes across care.

People often come to us when:

• they cannot get an appointment
• something has gone wrong
• they are confused about where to go for help
• communication has been unclear
• they feel they have not been listened to

We also help people understand how care works and where they can turn for practical support and information.

A lot of people may never contact Healthwatch directly, and that is completely fine. But the experiences people share with us help build a bigger picture of what is working well, what is not, and where improvements are needed across health and social care.

Over the years, we have looked at issues including:

• access to GP, hospital and dental appointments
• patient transport and travel to care
• access to care in rural areas
• women’s health and mental health
• how healthcare appointments can be made more accessible

For example, our recent work on health appointments showed how small, practical changes, sometimes called reasonable adjustments, can make a huge difference to whether people are actually able to access care.

A big part of our work is going out into communities and speaking to people where they already are, not just waiting for them to come to us. That could be at community groups, local events, libraries, hospitals or other local venues.

This helps us hear from people whose experiences are not always heard clearly enough, including older and younger people, autistic people, people with long term health conditions, people from ethnic minority communities, and people living in rural and coastal areas where travelling to appointments can be difficult.

So, what’s changing?

Healthwatch is expected to close in its current form.

The Government has said it plans to change how people’s experiences of health and social care are gathered in future.

Part of the Government’s argument is that there are currently several organisations involved in listening to feedback about care, and it wants to reduce duplication.

While this may sound straightforward in theory, Healthwatch organisations across England have raised concerns about whether this is the right approach and are making the case for strengthening Healthwatch with more funding and resource.

If plans go ahead, instead of independent Healthwatch organisations carrying out this work, responsibility for listening to people’s experiences and gathering public feedback about health and social care would move into the organisations already responsible for planning and overseeing care locally.

In North Yorkshire, this would mean:

• NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board would take on responsibility for gathering feedback and people’s experiences relating to NHS care across most of North Yorkshire
• NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board would do this for the Craven area, including places such as Skipton, Settle, Bentham and Ingleton. Although Craven is part of North Yorkshire, NHS care in this area is organised through West Yorkshire arrangements
• North Yorkshire Council would take on responsibility for gathering feedback and people’s experiences relating to social care

At this stage, there is no detail about extra staffing, funding, or how this work would operate day to day in practice.

The proposal is not for Healthwatch, or existing Healthwatch staff, to move across into these organisations or continue under the Healthwatch name. Instead, responsibility for this work would sit within those organisations themselves, or with another organisation they choose to commission (pay and ask to carry it out on their behalf).

This would be a significant change to how people’s experiences of care are heard.

Healthwatch organisations across England have raised concerns about the importance of keeping an independent public voice for health and social care.

One concern is that if organisations are responsible for reviewing feedback about their own care, it could create a risk of them “marking their own homework”.

There are also concerns that separating health and social care feedback between different organisations could make it harder to understand people’s full experiences and identify wider inequalities.

What this means right now

These changes have not happened yet. Healthwatch is still here, and our work continues as normal.

Right now:

• you can still contact your local Healthwatch
• you can still share your experiences and suggestions, anonymously if you wish
• you can still get help understanding your care, appointments and where to go for support

Any changes are unlikely to happen before April 2027.

While the Government has set out the overall plans, a lot of the detail is still being worked through, including how people will share their experiences in future and what this will look like day to day at a local level.

Some details, including what happens to existing feedback, reports and recommendations in future, are still not clear.

What happens next

The King’s Speech is expected on Wednesday 13 May 2026 and is likely to include the Government’s intention to introduce a new Health Reform Bill.

This is the proposed legislation expected to include changes to Healthwatch and how people’s experiences of health and social care are gathered in future.

At this stage, the Health Reform Bill itself has not yet been published, and no date has been confirmed for when it will be formally introduced to Parliament.

As things become clearer, we will continue to explain what is happening in plain English and focus on what any changes would mean in practice for people locally.

Healthwatch organisations across England are also preparing to brief Members of Parliament once the proposed legislation is published, with a focus on protecting independent public feedback and making sure people continue to have an independent place to share their experiences of care.

Our work continues

While national discussions about the future of Healthwatch continue, our work locally carries on as normal.

Every day, we hear from people about long waits for appointments, confusion about where to go for help, and communication that is not always clear.

We also hear positive experiences, where staff have made a real difference, and where organisations have responded positively to concerns people have raised.

We regularly meet with organisations responsible for planning and delivering care locally to share what people are telling us, including both good experiences and areas where improvements are needed.

That feedback continues to be used to highlight what is working well, where improvements are needed, and where change is happening locally.

We are still here

We know that this kind of change can feel uncertain. Health and social care can already be difficult to navigate, and it is important that people know where they can go for help and information.

Right now, there is no gap.

We are still here, still listening, and people can still come to us.

If you have used the NHS or social care and want to share your experience, we would still like to hear from you. What people tell us helps show what is working well, what is not working, and where care needs to improve.