centre for public scrutiny

The  Healthy Accountability Forum is place where policy makers can engage with scrutineers to invigorate the scrutiny process.  It represents the best in what is going on in the regions; debates and influences current issues and policies affecting health scrutiny; and shares knowledge and information to begin to address the future challenges to overview and scrutiny. Over the past eighteen months the  Forum has been developing into a national voice for Health Scrutiny.   

Membership of the forum is one officer and one member nominated by each health region through its health scrutiny network, but with additional spaces on a first come basis.  If you would be interested in attending please contact  avril.davies@cfps.org.uk.   

Forum dates for 2012

• March 12th - Informing the Guidance for the Health and Social Care Act
•June 18th - Health and Social Care White Paper
•September 10th
•December 10th

Following the publication of the Health White Paper in 2010, previous quarterly forums examinined the implications for scrutiny of the proposed reforms.

• September 20th 2010 - The Health White Paper. 'Equity and Excellence; Local Democratic Legitimacy in Health’
• December 16th 2010 - The Public Health White Paper 'Healthy Lives, Healthy People'
• March 7th 2011 - ' Planning for Change' 
• June 6th 2011 - Pause for Listening - NHS Future Forum 
• September 12th 2011- Developing HealthWatch
• December 5th 2011 - Comissioning Boards 

Keeping scrutiny at the centre of the health reforms

At each event members and officers were invited to share, reflect on, and embed the thinking that has been going on in local authorities about carrying forward health scrutiny, not only in the light of the health reforms, but in the context of changes within local government as a result of reduced funding and the localism act.

Proposals for scrutiny in the health bill:
Tim Gilling deputy Executive Director CfPS

Opportunities for new ways of working: workshop using four scenarios.   

Andrew Lawrence: CfPS Regional Advocate
Which key bodies should be involved, how and when and what sort of questions should scrutiny ask?
 

Key messages from ‘Exploiting opportunities at a time of change’
Su Turner, CfPS Principal Consultant                                                                                           Opportunities for health overview and scrutiny in the health reforms, explored in six scrutiny development areas.

Knowledge café discussion
How can health overview and scrutiny committees keep in the high performing zone identified in ‘Exploiting Opprtunities..’?

‘The role of scrutiny in producing a good Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’
Workshop: Rachel Harris CfPS Expert Adviser