About
Healthwatch Gloucestershire is the county’s independent health and social care champion. It is publicly funded and exists to ensure that people are at the heart of care. We do this by speaking up for ...
Authorised Enter and View Representative
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Summary
This role will view and observe publicly funded health and social care premises to speak and listen to people’s experiences of those services.Detailed description
Authorised Enter and View Representatives enter, view and observe publicly funded health and social care premises to speak, and listen, to people’s experiences of those services. This helps us to understand, and then report on, what is working well and what can be improved.
Healthwatch Gloucestershire (HWG) has a statutory power that allows us to enter these premises and undertake visits. Our intention to undertake visits is usually announced in advance but they can also be unannounced if it is deemed appropriate and necessary.
Why become an Authorised Enter & View Representative?
As part of the Enter and View team you will have the opportunity to meet and engage with a wide range of people who rely on these services. You will be helping to make life better for the people accessing the services by using the insight gained to make tangible recommendations to the providers of the services visited.
This function of HWG provides us with the opportunity to act as the public champion for health and social care across Gloucestershire thus making a difference to local communities.
If you are passionate about improving local health and social care services this could be the role for you!
What the role will involve:
• You will be part of a team which plans Enter and View visits. You will not be working alone in this role
• You will need to commit to undertaking specific training related to the role
• You will need to ensure that you fully prepare for visits and participate in and planning or review meetings as necessary
• You will talk to, and gather the views of, people including, family members, carers, staff, services managers to gain an understanding of how the services are working, without causing disruption to treatment of care (during the visit)
• During the visit you will need to observe the services being visited and make impartial comments based
• You will record these experiences and observations during the visit which will then contribute to the subsequent report. The report will cover what is working well and areas for improvement
• You may have the opportunity to support HWG staff to talk to service managers about any recommendations that have been highlighted as a result of the visit
• You may have the opportunity, as part of the Enter and View team, to check with the service provider whether or not the recommendations have been implemented and participate in follow-up visits if required
Personal requirements:
• Have good communication and listening skills with the ability to engage with people to support them to share their views
• Be comfortable talking to people from a range of backgrounds and about possibly sensitive issues
• Be warm and approachable
• Be able to maintain impartiality in order to appropriately present the views of the people you have spoken to (you should not allow your own experiences to influence your views)
• Be able to analyse and cut through information to understand what is working well or may need improvement
• Be able to work as part of a team, both before, during and after the visit
• Be able to understand, and manage, the boundaries associated with the role
• Be able to complete all required training for the role and to apply this in practice
• Represent HWG appropriately during the visit (also see Code of Conduct Policy)
• Computer skills, including Microsoft Word (we would not wish this to be a barrier for becoming an Authorised Enter and View Representative and so support will provided as necessary)
Additional information about this role:
• Complete all training required for the role e.g. Enter and View
training, Adult Safeguarding training, Data Protection and Confidentiality (GDPR) training, Equality and Diversity training
• Undergo a DBS check
• Complete a registration of conflict form and sign the HWG Code of Conduct Policy
To apply, please click 'Join' and you will be asked a short question. We will then be in touch to discuss the next steps with you.
What we will provide to volunteers
💸 Reimbursement of costsAbout Healthwatch Gloucestershire
Dedicated teams of staff and volunteers listen to what people like about local health and care services, and what could be improved. This is done through public engagement events e.g. having stands at the Big Health Check (Gloucester) and Health and Wellbeing event (Cirencester), on-going project work which volunteers support by speaking to the public about their experiences and generally raising awareness of Healthwatch Gloucestershire within networks. These views are then shared with the decision-making organisations, so together a real difference can be made.
In addition we are also responsible for undertaking Enter and View visits across publicly funded health and social care premises to speak to people about their experiences of using the service; this information is collated into a report, with key messages and recommendations, and shared with the provider of the service, the Care Quality Commission, Gloucestershire County Council and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, Healthwatch England and any other relevant partners. . We are keen to recruit more volunteers to help us with this and further information about this can be found on our website.
Healthwatch was introduced as a result of The Health and Social Care Act of 2012 which put people at the centre of their health and social care. A Healthwatch organisation was set up in every local authority area across England. Each one is a key part of its local community, and works in partnership with other organisations in its area. For Healthwatch Gloucestershire, this includes Gloucestershire County Council, the NHS, local hospitals and voluntary organisations and covers the districts and boroughs of Cheltenham, Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Stroud, and Tewkesbury.