Who we are and what we do
Healthwatch Milton Keynes is your local health and social care champion. We make sure NHS leaders and other decision makers hear your voice and use your feedback to improve care.
As an independent statutory body, we have the power to make sure NHS leaders and other decision makers listen to local feedback and improve standards of care. We're also a registered charity.
If you use GPs and hospitals, dentists, pharmacies, care homes or other support services in your area, we want to hear about your experiences. We can also help you to find reliable and trustworthy information and advice.
We use your feedback to better understand the challenges facing the NHS and other care providers and we make sure your experiences improve health and care for everyone – locally and nationally. We can also help you to get the information and advice you need to make the right decisions for you and to get the support you deserve.
It’s really important that you share your experiences – whether good or bad, happy or sad. If you’ve had a negative experience, it’s easy to think there’s no point in complaining, and that ‘nothing ever changes’. Or, if you’ve had a great experience, that you ‘wish you could say thank you’. Remember, your feedback is helping to improve people’s lives. So, if you need advice, or you’re ready to tell your story – we’re here to listen.
Download our Easy Read document about what we do
Find out more about how we can help you in our explainer film hub.
Last year in numbers
2,395 people shared their experiences of health and social care services with us, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care.
18,447 people came to us for clear advice and information about topics such as mental health and the cost-of-living crisis.
We published 19 reports about the improvements people would like to see in health and social care services. Our most popular report was Great Big MK GP survey: our findings which highlighted the struggles people have with GP services in Milton Keynes.
Our mission
To champion people’s rights and access to high-quality health and social care.
Our vision
People’s lived experiences are used to design and improve health and social care services.
Our strategy and values
Find out more about what how we achieve our mission statement, and the key principles that guide our work.
Our business plan for 2025-26
How we make decisions about our work
This policy explains how we make decisions. It includes how we decide:
- which health and care services we will focus on in our work;
- the money we will spend on our activities;
- whether to request information (e.g. submit a Freedom of Information request),
- whether to publish a report or a recommendation on a service or organisation;
- which services to 'enter and view' and when that visit will take place;
- whether to refer an issue to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (eg. where a service doesn’t respond adequately to significant recommendations for improvement that we've made in our reports).
You can find records of our decisions in our Board meeting minutes.
Our decision-making policy
Our governance
We are registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
Our Board of Trustees oversee our governance. They are responsible for policy and strategic decision-making.
Legislation for health and social care organisations
This information explains the legal responsibilities that health and social care services in Milton Keynes have, when it comes to working with us to improve services.
For example, it outlines how services must respond to our reports and recommendations, the service information they must provide us with, and their obligation to allow our Authorised Representatives onto the premises for an Enter and View visit.
This document does not contain full details of Healthwatch Milton Keynes’ legal powers.
Healthwatch National Reports Library
Every report from across the Healthwatch network - including all reports from Healthwatch Milton Keynes - is published in the National Reports Library.
There's research on a range of local health issues affecting people and communities in towns and cities across England.
The entire library is open to the public.
