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CareWatch was created as a way of "opening up two-way communication between the Committee for Health and Social Care and the community". However, at the time of writing, it has not updated its website for more than two years and concerns have been raised about whether it even remains active. Express has been looking into what is - or possibly what is not - going on at CareWatch.
Molly Edington was first told about CareWatch early this year. She had asked "who represented the public" after trying to escalate a complaint which she felt was not dealt with well by the Committee for Health & Social Care. Despite her best efforts, Ms Edington has been unable to make contact with CareWatch or even obtain anything other than a vague description of what CareWatch does.
Ms Edington told Express: “11 months ago, I discovered there is an organisation, supposedly separate from the Committee for Health & Social Care, that represents the public on healthcare matters called CareWatch.
“I discovered it when looking at some Health & Social Care documents that said the public are being represented through this organisation. But I could not find a single person that has ever heard of them. I’ve asked around a lot since, including my GP, and nobody has ever heard of them.
“I have tried to contact them several times since asking to speak to the panel. If I receive a response, it’s from an employee of Health & Social Care. I have yet to get any information on what they actually do other than a vague description.”
Pictured: CareWatch still has a website promoting itself as an "independent panel" and briefly outlining its purpose, but any information about what the organisation is doing is years out of date.
CareWatch was created in 2017 and announced as part of the 'Partnership of Purpose' - a 10-year plan to transform health and social care services in the Bailiwick published by the previous Committee for Health & Social Care, which was then led by Deputy Heidi Soulsby.
In its Partnership of Purpose Policy Letter to the States, the Committee for Health & Social Care said it had "established a forum called CareWatch as part of its early transformation work in order to ensure that voices representing diverse patient perspectives were heard and included throughout the process.
"Such a forum will continue to exist in the future [and] is able and expected to have a voice in decision-making about health and care services, commissioning and governance.”
Pictured: As of 2018, Lady Corder was the Patron of CareWatch.
The 2018 annual report was light on any actions taken or representations made on behalf of the community and users of health and social care services. It was more like a catalogue of meetings held and presentations attended. CareWatch said its plans for 2019 included developing a complaints procedure and ways to communicate with the public and staff. Since then, nothing further has been heard of those plans.
CareWatch lists Lady Corder as Patron and Roger Allsop as Chairman.
However, Lady Corder no longer lives in Guernsey, and in July this year Women In Public Life reported that CareWatch was seeking a new independent Chairman “to lead its work".
Pictured: On its website, CareWatch says it is "a panel made up of individuals and organisations representing a cross-section of our community including both individuals and representatives of the voluntary sector".
Express emailed CareWatch and received no reply. Express then found that, despite CareWatch being set up and promoting itself as an independent organisation, the phone number on the organisation's website takes callers to the Committee for Health & Social Care's switchboard.
Express then contacted the Committee for Health & Social Care through its communications officials, making attempts to find out:
Initially, a response was requested in three days, and then another request for information was made several days later. Express received no material answers to its questions, but was provided with the following statement:
“Due to significant operational pressures, Health & Social Care has been unable to provide a detailed response to the questions posed by Bailiwick Express in the time allowed. An offer of providing a full response in the New Year, following a CareWatch meeting scheduled in December, was declined.
“CareWatch has been meeting regularly since 2018. It is fair to say that covid-19 impacted the ability to respond to enquiries. We are aware that an individual who made contact in January of this year received a response from a Health & Social Care staff member on behalf of CareWatch but that subsequent queries raised were overlooked amongst other more urgent priorities.
"A Health & Social Care officer has been in further contact with the individual in September when additional information was provided in response to questions raised.”
Pictured: Deputy Heidi Soulsby was the President of the Committee for Health & Social Care when it set up CareWatch as part of its plan to transform health and social care in the Bailiwick, but there is no visible evidence of CareWatch doing anything in recent years.
Ms Edington said the reply she received was not actually addressed to her but rather to a deputy who she asked to track down CareWatch on her behalf.
“They had a campaign for a new chairperson in June and again Health & Social Care stated how important this organisation was, but they are still seemingly impossible to get in contact with,” said Ms Edington.
“When I enquired about whether there would be panel positions available from this, as I am in no way qualified to chair, I received a response a week later - from a member of staff within Health & Social Care - with an application form the day before the deadline.
“The whole thing is quite frankly embarrassing for the Committee for Health & Social Care and the Bailiwick. The public is supposed to be represented but are kept far away from this organisation or not even made aware of it."
Pictured: The Committee for Health & Social Care continues to promote CareWatch as an independent panel representing the interests of the community but repeated efforts by the media and the public to contact the organisation have led only back to the Committee or its officials.
At the time, Mr Allsopp, who as well as being listed as Chairman of CareWatch is also a former non-voting member of the Committee for Health & Social Care, said: “In its first three years, CareWatch has considered a wide range of subjects.
"From the costs of primary care to the priorities in modernising the hospital site, CareWatch has played an active role in key workstreams supporting the States’ Partnership of Purpose."
But Express still can't establish who is on CareWatch or find out anything more about what they are doing.
And, after 11 months of trying, Ms Edington still can't get hold of them.
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