“A few years ago I spent a lot of time as a patient and since that experience I have dedicated quite a bit of effort in ensuring that patients’ views are taken seriously. I find that volunteering with Healthwatch on the Enter & View programme is a really fulfilling role which is more satisfying than other volunteering roles I’ve performed elsewhere. Enter & View is great because it enables volunteers like me to visit people who are receiving health and social care and explore their experiences. This gives us a very practical opportunity to learn and then report back on what’s going well and what might usefully be improved. It is a powerful way of enabling patients to make their views known and to use this information to acknowledge good standards of care and encourage rapid and meaningful change where appropriate. The process has real power because of the supporting legal framework which means that managers and regulators have to take our feedback seriously.

It’s an interesting way to volunteer as we get to visit a wide variety of health and social care sites and meet a lot of people. As a result, I’ve learned a lot about the care system. I also like working with the local Healthwatch team as they treat us volunteers as individuals and are keen to make use of our skills and motivations – we’re not just regarded as a “pair of hands” and so we have the chance to feel really involved.”