About the Board Member role
The Healthwatch Rutland Board is the public face of Healthwatch Rutland and takes decisions about how Healthwatch Rutland should work to improve the health and social care outcomes of the county’s population.
Main tasks and responsibilities
- Help determine the strategic direction for Healthwatch Rutland and, through the manager, ensure efficient allocation and administration of resources to develop a work plan that will enable it to perform its functions effectively
- Ensure that Healthwatch Rutland's operations are transparent and accountable
- Ensure that Healthwatch Rutland seeks out and engages with members of the public, consumers and carers including ‘seldom heard’ groups, to gain their views on health and social care issues and problems in Rutland
- Ensure attendance at meetings with a variety of health and social care commissioners to represent public views as gathered through outreach work
- Assess a range of projects, research and reports that will help Healthwatch Rutland fulfill its role
- Ensure that there is representation by staff and volunteers at stakeholder and partner forums and committees (including patient and service user groups)
Skills and experience needed
To fulfill the role of an Healthwatch Rutland Board Member, individuals will need a range of skills, experience and characteristics:
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Members should be good communicators and be capable of playing an active role at board meetings and contribute to the discussion and policy decisions
- Members will be interacting with a range of different individuals from commissioners to members of the public, and must be willing to engage with all of them
- Members should have good analytical skills and awareness in order to identify gaps in public feedback and the provision and quality of local health and social care services
- Members should have an awareness of health and social care issues and an understanding of the importance of public involvement in these issues
- Members should have some experience of health and/or social care services. This should come from personal experience or a previous role
- Members are public representatives so they should understand what is expected from a position of civic responsibility
Read more about the role
Board Member role description
Your time commitment will consist of reading Board papers and attend Board meetings every 3 months (approximately 5-6 hours) and responding to emails and attend other meetings and events on behalf of Healthwatch Rutland as required (average 2-4 hours per meeting or event)
