Healthwatch jobs
Are you passionate about patient and public engagement, effecting system change, and improving services? Are you confident to lead engagement and research, and tell the story of the findings to decision-makers? Are you a great project manager, who is excited by the opportunity to lead the delivery of a user-led Healthwatch? If so, we’d love to work with you in order to improve the experiences of people using health and social care services in Barnet.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone with lived experience of disability (which could include a long term condition or mental health issue) to lead a small team in the delivery of Barnet’s statutory Healthwatch function.
As Manager, you will have a fundamental role in leading staff and volunteers, and ensuring users, patients and external stakeholders are involved in shaping the future of healthcare services in the Borough. Local people are at the heart of everything we do, and you will lead and guide the team to ensure that patients and users are heard, their experiences shared, and their voices amplified, creating change and improving services for all.
In return for your commitment to the cause, you will become part of a friendly and supportive team, working within a focused but flexible culture, where diversity is valued and you can bring your whole self to work. You’ll be based in our Colindale office, and able to attend meetings across Barnet, but with extensive opportunities for home working.
About Healthwatch
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 required each local authority area to set up a Healthwatch organisation. Healthwatch gives give people a powerful voice both locally and nationally. At a local level, Healthwatch Barnet works to help people get the best from their health and social care services, whether it's improving them today, or helping to shape them for tomorrow. Healthwatch Barnet is about local voices being able to influence the delivery and design of their services, not just for the people who use them, but anyone who might need to use them in future.
Healthwatch Barnet transferred to Inclusion Barnet on 1st April 2020. It is commissioned by the London Borough of Barnet to provide the following 6 key functions:
- Gather views and understand the experiences of patients and the public.
- Make people’s views known.
- Promote and support the involvement of people in the commissioning and provision of local care services and how they are scrutinised.
- Recommend investigation or special review of services via Healthwatch England or directly to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
- Provide advice and information (signposting) about access to services and support for making informed choices
- Making the views and experiences of local people known to Healthwatch England (and to other local Healthwatch organisations) and providing a steer to help it carry out its role as national champion.
About Inclusion Barnet
Inclusion Barnet is a thriving peer-led charity based in North West London. We are a friendly, supportive and inclusive team. We believe in the power of experience and this is demonstrated by all our services being led, developed and delivered by people with lived experience of disability, including mental health issues and long-term conditions. We believe that learning to use our lived experience for social change is a skill. We have become experts in harnessing the lived experience of our staff, members, volunteers and people who use our services to design and deliver higher quality, more person-centred services. We believe that this benefits both disabled people and society more widely.
Please submit a brief covering letter with your CV outlining how your skills match the job description and person specification. This post is only open to people with lived experience of disability. A DBS check will be required. In your covering letter, please ensure that you explain you would draw on insights from your own lived experience of disability to deliver the role.
Using our lived experience of disability to create more inclusive services and communities


The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
For the application pack please see our website.
Job Purpose
We are looking for a Neonatal Lead to join the Wakefield and Kirklees and Calderdale Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVP).
Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships are a team of people working together to improve maternity and neonatal care for local people. They hold responsibility to act as multi-disciplinary working groups with the primary function of embedding the service user experience as a method for review and co-design of maternity services.
The groups are made up of an MNVP Lead, lay roles, women and their families, healthcare professionals such as midwives, health visitors, GP’s, local commissioners, charities, and community groups.
The Neonatal Lead will play a crucial role in ensuring that the experiences and needs of families with lived experience of neonatal care are central to the development and improvement of local maternity and neonatal services across Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale.
This role would suit a person who is passionate about developing neonatal care and engaging with families across Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale.
The role requires some flexibility in terms of time, but we also recognise and accommodate, where possible, the other commitments you may have, including work, parenting, and other caring commitments.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
The Neonatal Lead will be an advocate for the service user’s voice, ensuring it is heard and considered in the planning, review, and improvement of neonatal services.
They will actively engage with families with lived experience of neonatal care, to gather feedback and understand their experiences.
They will build strong relationships with providers, commissioners, and other stakeholders to ensure that the service user voice is heard and influences decisions.
They will work to identify areas where services can be improved and advocate for changes that will enhance the quality of care for neonatal service users.
They will work closely with the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership Leads, share engagement information with the MNVP Leads in order to support them feeding in to local and national meetings and events, in order to share the service user voice and provide independent scrutiny.
Key responsibilities
· Be one of the points of contact for neonatal enquiries to the MNVPs.
· Lead on engagement with families with lived experience of neonatal care.
· Work closely with the Wakefield and Kirklees and Calderdale MNVP Leads, for example sharing engagement data so that this can be fed into local and regional strategic meetings.
· Input as required to MNVP social media.
· Work in collaboration with the Yorkshire and Humber Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN), as part of the Co-Production Meeting.
· Organise at least three community based listening events per year, one in each locality – Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale.
· Attend already established neonatal community groups in order to gain knowledge and insight into the experiences of those attending.
General Responsibilities
· Support a positive team environment, ensure compliance with policies, and promote equality and diversity.
· Participate in internal and external meetings as required and appropriate.
· Plan and manage own workload, set targets and deadlines, and be self-supporting with regard to administration and IT.
· Undertake specific identified projects and any other duties consistent with the nature and level of the post.
Person Specification
Essential
· Have lived experience, that is be a parent whose baby or babies has/have spent time in neonatal care and/or accessed Neonatal services, whether this is recently or in the past.
· Be able to champion and seek out the voices of this group to support them to be heard effectively.
· Experience of leading engagement, particularly with hard to reach groups and communities.
· Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
· Strong organisational and prioritisation skills.
· Capable of working independently and managing a varied workload.
· Have an understanding of the structure of the NHS and Neonatal services within it, particularly in the Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale areas.
· Experience working with, and developing partnerships with, a range of people, including project stakeholders, diverse community groups, and other organisations.
· Experience in data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative.
· Proficient in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint and Word.
· Commitment to the principles and values of Healthwatch.
· Demonstrates empathy, integrity, and a drive to influence positive change in health and social care.
· Willingness to travel within the Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale area.
· Ability to work flexible hours, including occasional evenings and weekends.
Desirable
· Experience of using various engagement methodologies, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and community meetings.
· Experience producing impact-focused reports and summary documents.
· Familiarity with local Neonatal services and community needs.
· Knowledge of the voluntary and community sector.
· Good understanding of health and social care sectors.
Your local health and social care champion
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Self Employed - Neonatal Lead
For Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, and Newham Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP)
Salary: £150 per day, with reimbursement of childcare and travel expenses (subject to policy)
Length of Contract: Fixed-Term Contract Until March 2026 (subject to extension)
Reports to: MNVP Project Manager – Healthwatch Newham
Hours per week: 3 days per week across three boroughs, Monday to Friday (flexible working hours)
Based at: Home based, with meetings within Barts Health NHS Trust and frequent travel in community
Review: There will be an initial review after two months to ensure mutual alignment with the contract.
Overview
Barts Health NHS Trust provides neonatal and maternity care for women and birthing people and their babies each year across Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Waltham Forest, providing all aspects of obstetrics and midwifery care in our labour ward, midwife-led birth centre and home birthing service.
TWN Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) listens to the experiences of women, birthing people and families, and brings together service users, staff and other stakeholders to plan, review and improve maternity and neonatal care. MNVPs ensure that service users’ voices are at the heart of decision-making in maternity and neonatal services by being embedded within the leadership of provider trusts and feeding into the Local Maternity and Neonatal System and Integrated Care Board. This influences improvements in the safety, quality, and experience of maternity and neonatal care. We work to ensure that every woman and birthing person on the maternity and neonatal pathway has a chance to have their voice heard. We do not speak for them.
We are recruiting a Neonatal Lead who brings the expertise of women/birthing people with lived experience of neonatal services at Barts Health NHS Trust into the heart of the development of every aspect of neonatal and maternity services at the trust.
The role of Neonatal Lead is key to providing inclusive and collaborative leadership and ways of working, ensuring that all women and birthing people and their families’ views are heard and acted on. This is an exciting opportunity to review, shape and improve services and make a real difference to women, birthing people and their families.
This is a paid, self-employed job requiring 3 days a week (worked flexibly where possible). Working with the MNVP is an opportunity to become part of a vibrant team, improving care for our service users and enabling voices and engagement with our community.
Healthwatch Newham (part of CB Plus), along with Healthwatch Tower Hamlets and Healthwatch Waltham Forest, has been commissioned by NHS North East London ICB since 2023 to manage the MNVP in Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, and Newham (TWN), including staff employment.
About the role:
We are looking for a TWN Maternity & Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) Neonatal Lead who:
● Is passionate about helping to develop and improve the experience of neonatal (and maternity) services for babies and their families who require neonatal care.
● Is keen to engage families and seldom listened-to groups to inform neonatal and maternity service development.
Please note this role is for someone with lived experience and is not suitable for clinical staff (although they are welcome to join the MNVP in their professional role).
This is a self-employed position on a fixed-term contract until March 2026. The successful candidate will not be entitled to employee benefits such as pension, sick pay, or holiday pay.
As a self-employed contractor, you are responsible for managing your own tax and National Insurance contributions. You will be required to invoice the organisation for your work, and payment will be made within 21 days of receipt of a monthly invoice.
This is a home-based role with flexible working hours. However, you will be expected to attend meetings within Barts Health NHS Trust and travel within the community as required.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Overview
Barts Health NHS Trust provides maternity and neonatal care for women and birthing people and their babies each year, providing all aspects of obstetrics and midwifery care in our labour ward, midwife-led birth centre and home birthing service.
NEL Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) listens to the experiences of women, birthing people and families, and brings together service users, staff and other stakeholders to plan, review and improve maternity and neonatal care. MNVPs ensure that service users’ voices are at the heart of decision-making in maternity and neonatal services by being embedded within the leadership of provider trusts and feeding into the Local Maternity and Neonatal System and Integrated Care Board. This influences improvements in the safety, quality, and experience of maternity and neonatal care. We work to ensure that every woman and birthing person on the maternity and neonatal pathway has a chance to have their voice heard. We do not speak for them.
We are recruiting a Maternity Lead who brings the expertise of women/birthing people with lived experience of maternity services at Barts Health NHS Trust into the heart of the development of every aspect of maternity and neonatal services at the trust.
The role of MNVP Lead is key to providing inclusive and collaborative leadership and ways of working, ensuring that all women and birthing people and their families’ views are heard and acted on. This is an exciting opportunity to review, shape and improve services and make a real difference to women, birthing people and their families.
This is a paid, self-employed job requiring 1.5 days per week (worked flexibly where possible). Working with the MNVP is an opportunity to become part of a vibrant team, improving care for our service users and enabling voices and engagement with our community.
The membership of the MNVP includes:
● Women, birthing people and families from a diverse range of backgrounds.
● Members of the wider community such as birth workers and charities specialising in mental health, supporting refugees, etc.
● Nurses, midwives, health visitors, doctors and managers.
This is a self-employed position on a fixed-term contract until March 2026. The successful candidate will not be entitled to employee benefits such as pension, sick pay, or holiday pay.
As a self-employed contractor, you are responsible for managing your own tax and National Insurance contributions. You will be required to invoice the organisation for your work, and payment will be made within 21 days of receipt of a monthly invoice.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.