Changes to Healthwatch: what it means for you

When people hear phrases like “Healthwatch is closing” or see headlines about changes to the NHS, it can understandably feel worrying or confusing.

We’ve already had people asking what is happening, whether they can still come to Healthwatch for help, and what any of this might actually mean day to day.

We also know plenty of people may not really know what Healthwatch does in the first place, or why these changes matter.

So we wanted to explain, in plain English, who we are, what we do, what has been proposed so far, and what this could mean for people in North Yorkshire.

What Healthwatch does

Healthwatch listens to people’s experiences of health and social care and makes sure those experiences are heard by the organisations responsible for planning and delivering care.

We are independent from the organisations people tell us about. That means people can speak openly about both good and bad experiences, and we can raise concerns and highlight patterns across care.

People often come to us when:

• they cannot get an appointment
• something has gone wrong
• they are unsure 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 go for practical information and support.

A lot of people may never contact Healthwatch directly, and that is completely fine. But when people do share their experiences with us, it helps 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 travelling to care
• access to care in rural areas
• women’s health and mental health
• making healthcare appointments more accessible

For example, our recent work on health appointments highlighted 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 expecting them to come to us. That might be at community groups, local events, libraries, hospitals or other venues across North Yorkshire.

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 wants 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 that bringing responsibilities together could make public services more joined up and reduce duplication.

While that may sound straightforward in principle, Healthwatch organisations across England have raised concerns about whether this is the right approach and are arguing instead for Healthwatch to be strengthened with more funding and resource.

If the plans go ahead, 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, rather than being carried out by independent Healthwatch organisations.

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 still very little detail about extra staffing, funding, or how this would work day to day in practice.

The current proposal is not for Healthwatch organisations to continue under the Healthwatch name or move directly into these organisations. Instead, responsibility for this work would sit within those organisations themselves, or another organisation they choose to commission to carry it out on their behalf.

This would be a major change to how people’s experiences of care are gathered and represented.

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, there is a risk of them effectively “marking their own homework”.

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

Recent reports from organisations including The King’s Fund have also highlighted the importance of independent public feedback and local opinions and experiences in helping improve care.

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 direction, a lot of the detail is still being worked through, including how people would share their experiences in future and what this would look like locally day to day.

Some details, including what happens to existing feedback, reports and recommendations in future, are also still unclear.

What happens next

The King’s Speech on 13 May 2026 confirmed the Government’s intention to bring forward an NHS Modernisation Bill.

The King’s Speech is where the Government sets out the laws and major changes it plans to introduce during the next Parliamentary session.

This does not mean the changes happen immediately. Before any changes become law, the proposed legislation must still be published, debated by Members of Parliament and the House of Lords, and approved through the Parliamentary process.

The proposed legislation is expected to include changes affecting NHS England and how people’s experiences of health and social care are gathered in future.

The Government has described the proposed Bill as part of wider plans to reform and modernise the NHS and public services.

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

This means there is still very little detail about how any new arrangements for gathering public feedback would work in practice locally.

As things become clearer, we will continue to explain what is happening in plain English and focus on what any changes could 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 help highlight what is working well, where improvements are needed, and where change is happening locally.

We are still here

We know this kind of uncertainty can feel unsettling. Health and social care can already be difficult to navigate at times, and it is important people know where they can still 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.