News

You can help Voluntary Action Rutland (VAR) continue to serve the rural community of Rutland by shaping the transport service to meet the needs of users in the future.

They now want to ask residents how it is doing and whether changes are needed to make the service better in future.

If you use VAR transport yourself, book it on behalf of friends or family, or have interactions with VAR transport staff and volunteers, please fill in the survey.

NHS England has produced a new guide to tell you what to expect from your general practice and how you can help them, so that you get the best from the NHS.

You and Your General Practice is a national patient charter developed by NHS England to help patients understand:

• What you can expect from your GP practice
• How you can get the best support from your GP team
• How to provide feedback or raise concerns

It’s designed to be accessible, inclusive, and practical—offering translated versions in over 15 languages including Urdu, Polish, Bengali, and Chinese.

You and Your General Practice explains how to:

• Contact your practice and request appointments
• Understand who may be involved in your care (not just GPs, but nurses, pharmacists, care coordinators, etc.)
• Register or change practices
• Access fair treatment and reasonable adjustments
• Use digital tools and online services effectively

Healthwatch Rutland has challenged a Rutland Times report of 18 September that misquoted its representative on prescription delays, warning the error could cause needless concern and damage trust in local GP services.

Today, an article in the Rutland Times misrepresents Healthwatch Rutland’s comments at a recent Rutland Health and Wellbeing Board meeting. Under the headline “surgery ‘delayed’ prescriptions ordered offline” the article misquotes the Healthwatch Rutland representative on the Board, Dr. Janet Underwood, as saying “this summer one GP practice had been making people wait longer for prescriptions if they ordered them in person rather than online.” 

However, at no point did Dr Underwood suggest that people who do not use online ordering will wait longer to have prescriptions processed. Our concern is that this misrepresentation will create unnecessary alarm and erode trust in local primary care services.

The article accurately reflects the discussion at the board that:

• Dr. Underwood acknowledged that digital services can be easier for many but emphasized the need to not disadvantage those unable to access them.
• Over the summer people at a Rutland Practice have had to queue to hand over paper prescriptions. Dr. Underwood commented that we have spoken to the practice concerned and know they had taken these measures for a short period to try to encourage people to move to digital.
• Both Dr. Underwood and the local NHS representative recognised that the move to digital services is a national push, but face-to-face and telephone options must remain available and be safeguarded.

The publisher Iliffe Media was contacted yesterday and was urged to make a correction across all its outlets. Without hesitation they corrected the misleading article on LincsOnline and in this week’s Rutland and Stamford Mercury but were too late to correct the article in the Rutland Times which had already gone to press. We will be looking for them to print a correction in next week’s edition. 

The full recording of the meeting on which the article is based is available on Youtube. Dr. Underwood makes her comments around 25m 40sec into the recording. 

The plan to ‘cluster’ Northamptonshire ICB and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) ICB has now been formally approved by NHS England and government ministers.

Both ICBs will continue to exist as separate statutory bodies, but in time they will move to work as one, with a single set of staffing structure and board governance. This is part of a national move to bring together Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) into 26 clusters, down from the current 42.

While there are still important details to be worked through – such as arrangements for continuing healthcare, safeguarding, and services for people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) – they are moving forward with purpose to ensure a smooth transition that prioritises the needs of local people.

Their structure and implementation plan (currently being developed) show a significantly reduced running cost budget – a 33% reduction for LLR and a 29% reduction for Northamptonshire. This comes after NHS England announced that ICBs nationally were to reduce their running costs.

Sign our national petition calling on the government to protect the independence of local voices in health and care.

The NHS 10 Year Health plan proposes to abolish Healthwatch England and 152 local Healthwatch, and transfer functions ‘in-house’ to local authorities and NHS Integrated Care Boards once legislation has passed. 

Proposals to bring public voice functions under the control of local authorities or NHS bodies threatens to compromise the impartiality, trust, and effectiveness of these initiatives. Having an opportunity to go to an independent service for advice, help, support or to raise concerns is paramount. Independence is not optional – it is essential for transparency, accountability, and meaningful change.

Instead of dismantling independence, we should be strengthening it. Local Healthwatch have put together a petition calling on the government to protect the independence of local voices in health and care and we ask for your support in signing it: Keep independent services that give the public a voice in NHS and Social Care.

Why is it important? 

USPs of independent public voice initiatives:

• Being an independent critical friend – working constructively with local stakeholders, but always with the freedom to raise concerns without fear or favour. Services can’t be held to account by the same bodies that fund or manage them. Independence is essential for honest feedback and meaningful scrutiny.

• Amplifying the collective voices of people at risk of health inequalities – speaking to people experiencing health inequalities and asking about the barriers to accessing services. The new plan relies heavily on individuals feeding back to the services they use. Listening to communities is essential to the successful delivery of services.

• Driven by communities – based on what people with lived experience say, with no other taskmaster or agenda. Designed to be owned and governed by communities with their best interest at heart.

• A bridge across sectors – people do not fit neatly into one box, they often experience and need services across multiple providers. Connecting VCSE organisations, local authorities, health services, and communities to build more integrated and inclusive services.

• Independent, trusted and impartial – people want an independent service because they often lack trust and fear repercussions sharing their feedback direct with those providing their care. They find provider feedback routes difficult to navigate or have shared in the past and feel that they have not been heard.

We believe the Government needs to:

• Invest in and strengthen independent public voice.
• Engage with local Healthwatch leaders to co-design a future that puts people first.
• Recognise the role independent voice can play in supporting the three shifts outlined in the 10 year health plan– by providing constructive challenge and supporting coproduction, particularly with those communities facing the greatest health and care needs.

131 local Healthwatch services across England have signed a powerful open letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, urging the government to reconsider proposals that would bring public voice functions under the control of local authorities and NHS bodies.

The letter, which to date has been signed by 131 Healthwatch Chief Officers/Chairs – representing 86% of the national network – warns that the proposed changes would seriously compromise the independence that makes public feedback effective and trusted.

“Bringing public voice functions in-house risks creating a system where feedback is filtered, inconvenient truths are softened, and accountability is diluted” 

Healthwatch services have long served as independent champions for patients, carers, and communities, particularly those who are vulnerable or face barriers to accessing care. Their statutory independence allows them to challenge poor practice, conduct impartial research, and ensure that people’s voices are heard without fear or favour.

The letter draws on lessons from the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust scandal, where failures in local scrutiny contributed to serious harm. It argues that dismantling independent advocacy would repeat past mistakes and weaken public accountability.