Healthwatch is here to stay!
Updated: 20 hours ago
We are thrilled to welcome the Government's announcement that Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch will not be abolished, as previously proposed eighteen months ago.
This means Healthwatch Reading, alongside all 153 local Healthwatch organisations and our national body, Healthwatch England, will continue to be your champion for health and care, ensuring your voices, opinions and experiences help make systems and services work better for people and communities.
Looking ahead, the Government has also committed to strengthening Healthwatch, helping to give patients, service users and communities an even stronger voice in shaping health and social care services.
Here in Reading, we have already seen the difference that public feedback can make. As highlighted in our Annual Report 2025/26 local people's experiences and views have helped influence improvements to services, raise awareness of key issues and drive positive change across health and care.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported and worked alongside Healthwatch over the years, including local residents, community groups, volunteers and our partners across health and social care. Your support helps ensure people's voices remain at the heart of decisions about the services they use every day.
We look forward to continuing to work alongside local people and partners to ensure community voices are heard and to build on the positive changes already achieved across Reading.
We now await further details about the Government's plans to strengthen Healthwatch and what this will mean locally. We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.
Share your views and experiences with us
Tell us what you think about local health and social care services (the good or bad) and we will share your feedback anonymously with local teams running and commissioning these services, to help make change.
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