CEO's blog: a different approach for our last year
Normally, at this point in the year I would share a full and busy programme of projects based on what you, residents of MK, tell us needs to change in health and social care. But, as you know, this year is different and so is our approach.
We know through nearly a decade of experience that influencing positive change to health and care service delivery can take time, spanning years in some cases, and time is not a luxury Healthwatch Milton Keynes has. We are likely to see the abolition of local Healthwatch around April 2027.
With limited time left to achieve positive change, we are focusing on activities that will deliver the greatest impact for people in Milton Keynes. We've developed a 12 month strategy to highlight our key objectives in the year ahead. It includes projects that make high local impact, handing over our advice and information services, and influencing future national policy and structures to listen to your experience and act on it.
The new Central East ICB is hitting a restart button, of sorts, as it brings three Integrated Care Boards into one, significantly reduces it's workforce and reframes the way it works. Such disruption will make influencing service design challenging. Instead, we'll be focusing on supporting the ICB as it operates alongside Milton Keynes Council, Public Health and local health and care service providers as they develop new 'neighbourhood health' models. We're focused on ensuring residents are involved in their development, evaluation and monitoring in the future.
We'll also be working full pelt on our Enter and view visits across care homes, home care and particularly the GP services you raise the most concerns about. We also have some exciting projects in social care that you can read about in our 2026-27 business plan.
Essential to delivery within our remaining time is ensuring your insights and feedback continue to shape future public and patient involvement policy and infrastructure when Healthwatch is no more. A report from the King's Fund published just this week notes that "any future model [of gathering patient feedback] must enhance – not weaken – the system’s capacity to hear, understand and respond to people’s experiences."
The report highlights the necessity of "independence from the health and care system to ensure that whatever is put in place can speak truth to power and raise difficult messages where necessary."
As it stands currently, there will be no independent mechanism for listening to patients once we're gone. Therefore, we'll do what we can to support residents in advance of this fundamental shift.
We're also sharing with you an important opportunity to shape the future of transport in our growing city. Transport is often an issue for people who need to travel to hospital, GP or dentist appointments. And, with the population expected to reach around 410,000 by 2050, the Local Transport Plan will play a key role in how we all move around safely and sustainably.
Please continue to speak up about the health issues that matter to you. Your experiences will continue to guide our work, ready for whatever comes next.
