Corrected 10 July 205 to reflect uncertainty as to how local Healthwatch will be carried forward.
According to BBC reports the Government is to abolish over 200 supervisory organisations in the health service, including Healthwatch England, the Office of the National Guardian, which is supposed to support whistleblowers and offer training related to whistle blowing and the Health Services Safety Investigations Board.
It is unclear how local Healthwatch bodies, such as Healthwatch Reading, will go forward.
Healthwatch Reading represents patients on the Reading Health and Wellbeing Board and in many discussions on the commissioning of health services with the BOB Integrated Care Board. Will this continue as before?
Our view is that the NHS should adopt a no-fault approach to medical errors and encourage whistle-blowing rather than abolishing the body supposedly supporting whistle blowers.