Our Mission & Values

Our vision

We are working towards a society in which all of our health and social care needs are heard, understood and met.

Achieving this vision will mean that people:

  • Shape health and social care delivery
  • Influence the services they receive personally
  • Hold services to account

We achieve this by:

  • listening hard to people, especially the most vulnerable, to understand their experiences and what matters most to them;
  • influencing those who have the power to change services so that they better meet people’s needs now and in the future;
  • informing and empowering people to get the most from their health and social care services and encouraging other organisations to do the same;
  • working with the Healthwatch network to champion service improvement and empower local people.

Our values

Inclusive

  • We start with people first.
  • We work for children, young people and adults.
  • We cover all health and social care services.
  • We work for everyone, not just those who shout the loudest.

Influential

  • We set the agenda and make change happen.
  • We are responsive. We take what we learn and translate it into action.
  • We are innovative and creative. We know that we cannot fix things by sticking to the status quo.
  • We work with the network of local Healthwatch organisations and Healthwatch England to make an impact both locally and nationally.

 Independent

  • We are independent and act on behalf of all people.
  • We listen to people and speak loudly on their behalf.
  • We challenge those in power to design and deliver better health and social care services.
  • We like to highlight what works well but are not afraid to point out when things have gone wrong.

 Credible

  • We value knowledge.
  • We seek out data and intelligence to challenge assumptions with facts.
  • We celebrate and share good practice in health and social care.
  • We hold ourselves to the highest possible standards.

 Collaborative

  • We keep the debate positive, get things done and keep you updated about the progress.
  • We work in partnership with the public, the health and social care sectors and the voluntary and community sector.
  • We learn from people’s experiences and from specialists and experts. We build on what is already known and collaborate in developing and sharing new insights.