News

Healthwatch Rutland’s contract with Connected Together has been renewed for another two years to March 2023.

We are pleased to announce that Rutland County Council have extended Healthwatch Rutland‘s contract with Connected Together for another two years.

Rutland County Council awarded the contract to Connected Together Community Interest Company (CTCIC) in April 2018 for providing Healthwatch services in Rutland.

This renewal is a reflection of the hard work of staff, Board members and volunteers. Healthwatch Rutland and Connected Together will continue to ensure that Rutland people continue to be heard and that their health and social care needs are met.

We at Healthwatch Rutland are delighted to hear that Rutland County Council have extended our contract for another two years. We see this as recognition of the hard work and dedication of staff, Board members and volunteers. We will continue this work in representing the voice of Rutland people with health and care providers and will always strive to achieve the best possible care for Rutland residents.

Dr Janet Underwood, Healthwatch Rutland Chair

Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Healthwatch Rutland Annual Reports for 2019-20 have now been published.

Both Healthwatch have had busy years. During 2019-20 they continued to assert themselves as independent champions to put local people at the heart of decisions in health and care services. They undertook some exciting projects to gather the views and needs of service users.

Highlights of 2019-20 included:

• Gathering people’s views about the local implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan and sharing them widely with providers and commissioners of care.
• Ensuring children and young people, including young carers, have a voice in decision making through our Young Healthwatch groups and projects.
• Continuing to provide high quality and accessible information and working in partnership with others to have the most influence and impact.

Connected Together CIC has been monitoring the rapidly unfolding situation around COVID-19 on a daily basis to consider its impact on how we work and how we best support our staff, volunteers, partners and stakeholders. We have also taken note of government communications which have escalated the status from “Contain” through to “Delay”, and developments since.

As a result of this status escalation we have decided to take the precautionary decision for everyone to work remotely (i.e. from home) as of today, Monday 16 March, until further notice. This will mean our office’s at Moulton Park Business Centre and The Kings Centre will be closed to staff, volunteers and visitors.

All staff have access to remote working and can be contacted by email or phone (see link below). The main phone number has been diverted to a mobile.

Contact the team