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:
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.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
Using our lived experience of disability to create more inclusive services and communities
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Healthwatch
Healthwatch was set up in 2013 to champion the rights of health and social care users and hold the health and social care system to account for how well it engages with the public. Its remit covers all publicly funded health and social care services for adults and children.
Healthwatch’s remit covers all publicly funded health and social care services for adults and children.
The Advocacy Project delivers Healthwatch services in Kensington & Chelsea, Brent and Westminster – three of 152 local Healthwatch organisations. We’re building on the important work that’s been done to date, while bringing new insights from the voices of seldom heard and radicalised communities.
Future of Healthwatch
There are plans to abolish the local Healthwatch network with the implementation of the new NHS 10-year plan and NHS Bill. However, we are committed to delivering the best service for residents until that time and build a strong, lasting legacy.
About the role
The role is to lead the work of Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea, working with a small skilled staff team and a range of volunteers and other community stakeholders. In particular, you will share our commitment to embed user engagement and community development at the heart of the Healthwatch service model, empowering user voices and improving access to health services. We are looking for someone who can bring a thorough understanding of the health system and project management with the ability to deliver results quickly including leading on the planning and delivery of targeted projects, supporting a diverse and varied engagement programme, and building relationships with a range of strategic partners. The Healthwatch Manager (Kensington & Chelsea) also takes the lead on managing our local Advisory Board. You will work closely with the Healthwatch teams in Westminster and Brent.
Key responsibilities
General responsibilities
Person specification
Essential
Desirable
Registered Charity
21 - 50
We help people speak up and make decisions about their health, wellbeing and social care.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Position: Community Voice Officer
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Hours: 25 hours to be taken between Mon – Fri, one day working from home, other days expected to be in the community or office
Salary: £30,000 pro rata; 5% pension contribution, 33 days of annual leave entitlement (inclusive of bank holidays) pro rata
Reportable to: Healthwatch Manager
Direct reports: None
Job Purpose
Healthwatch Barnsley (hosted by Barnsley CVS), is going through an exciting redesign to enable community voices to have even greater impact on the current strategies and developments in Barnsley. The Community Engagement Officer role is an impactful and rewarding opportunity to join the Healthwatch Barnsley Team as we navigate upcoming changes introduced through the new NHS 10 Year Plan and the forthcoming Health Bill. This role will ensure that the voices of Barnsley residents remain central as we work towards building a health and social care system that is fit for the future.
You will use your excellent interpersonal skills and creativity to gather feedback on Barnsley priorities, ensuring residents’ views shape local projects and developments contributing to Barnsley’s vision as the “Place of Possibilities”.
Working with Barnsley CVS and other established third-sector organisations you will identify new ways to reach under-represented or seldom-heard communities and strengthen how their voices inform local decision-making. You will collaborate with the wider Healthwatch team to support a strong, credible and independent voice within Barnsley’s strategic boards, helping to create a genuinely “Listening Borough”.
By capturing residents’ experiences and feeding them back to services you will contribute to a continuous feedback loop that empowers communities, builds trust and encourages ongoing participation in future engagement activities.
Key focus areas you could be working on include topics such as system-wide shifts
· Hospital to Community
· Analogue to Digital
· Sickness to Prevention
· Health on the high street
· The Barnsley 2040 vision
As part of the redesign, you will work as a team to design new ways to create dynamic feedback loops to the public using tools such as magazine creation, blogs or vlogs, podcasts, social media. Your work will ensure that the communities in Barnsley know that their voice can have a genuine impact on the shaping of their town.
Employee benefits
- 33 days of annual leave (including bank holiday) which increases with longevity
- all staff given time off between Christmas and New Year without it impacting your leave entitlement
- enhanced sick pay during probation and increased entitlement with longevity
- 5% pension contribution
- discounts at local gym
- Enhanced maternity pay
Registered Charity
11 - 20
We provide leadership, support and coordination to the vibrant VCSE sector in Barnsley to create a positive drive that impacts communities
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.