VOLUNTEERS are wanted by Healthwatch Warrington to join its ground-breaking ‘People’s Panel’, the first of its kind in the North West, dedicated solely to improving health and wellbeing services across the town.
Healthwatch Warrington, an independent health and social care organisation dedicated to championing the views of patients and social care users in the borough, is searching for Warrington residents to become part of its innovative ‘People’s Panel’.
A pioneering grassroots programme for Warrington, the People’s Panel allows users of health and social care facilities in the town to offer constructive feedback based on their experiences. This format is the first of its kind in the North West and allows for improved communication between service users and service providers.
The People’s Panel is currently made up of delegates from mental health, social care, health services and the voluntary sector, including a former GP and a former principal manager of social care, who is the Vice Chair of the panel. All panellists have experience of receiving health and social care services in the borough and use their understanding to inform the panel.
With this latest recruitment drive, Healthwatch Warrington is keen to diversify the panel’s offering by attracting people from a variety of age ranges, backgrounds and life experiences.
Lydia Thompson, Manager at Healthwatch Warrington, said of the panel: “The People’s Panel is a brilliant way to collate the views of our townspeople, which is pivotal to improving our services. In our monthly meetings, we discuss all aspects Warrington’s health and social care offering, covering everything from mental health services for adults and young people through to the tone and vocabulary of our hospital discharge letters.
“Gaining insight from those using our services is extremely effective and we really appreciate the time and energy that our panellists put into communicating their feedback.
“We’re very keen to diversify the panel with our next batch of volunteers and ensure we have representatives from a variety of ethnicities, social groups, and health and social care backgrounds to help ensure the panel encompasses the views of the entire town.”
Simon Kenton, Programme Director of Warrington Together, is currently working to unify and streamline health and social care services in the town. He said: “The People’s Panel is a unique and exciting offering for our town. It helps us to create a well-rounded view of the current health and social care services provided and build upon them.
“The Panel has been very useful in helping us to identify how we can work to improve services and programmes in Warrington. Receiving further input from a wider variety of sources will only serve to broaden the feedback we receive. We’re encouraging our townspeople to spread the word about the panel to ensure that all groups are equally represented.
“We also have a virtual People’s Panel which allows people to give their views on our town’s health and social care offering online.”
For further information on the People’s Panel and how to apply to become a panellist, please visit https://healthwatchwarrington.co.uk/Peoplespanel/ and to find out more about the online panel, please visit: https://www.warringtonva.org.uk/warrington-peoples-panel
