NHS pledge to be open, honest and transparent

These include:

• We will involve patients, the public, carers and partners in the decisions that we make whenever possible and where appropriate;

• We will communicate about our financial situation and decisions in a clear, open and honest way;

• We will have an open door policy to any patients, public, carers and partners who want to talk to us about the decisions we make.

Healthwatch welcome this approach and note that it follows many months of us lobbying the NHS to abandon entirely unnecessary secrecy and ‘behind closed doors’ decision making. We also welcome recent briefing sessions with Healthwatch and CCG Lay Member representatives sharing the current financial difficulties and underpinning this more open approach to public and patient engagement.

Healthwatch believes the NHS can build on these pledges by:

• openly explaining the overall financial position for the NHS in Brighton and Hove. It has been great to see BSUH come out of financial special measures but it is still carrying +£60m of historic debt;
• backing up social care integration promises and fine words with firm plans. These should deal with the savings that will be required in the Brighton and Hove City Council budget over the next two financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21;
• seeking advice on how engagement and consultation with the public can be improved. Advice can be sought from external experts such as the Consultation Institute and parts of the NHS elsewhere who have already overcome these persistent financial problems.

For more information please click on the following link : Public Pledges