STEPS are finally being taken to launch Oxfordshire’s official new patients’ watchdog.
Views are being sought on the board structure for Healthwatch Oxfordshire and recruitment of its five officers will start this month.
It was meant to replace the Oxfordshire LINk (Local Involvement Network) on April 1 as the official NHS and adult social care watchdog.
This coincided with a massive shake-up of the NHS on that day which transferred spending power to GP leaders.
Oxfordshire County Council commissioned Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (ORCC) to set up the Healthwatch. But ORCC chief executive Linda Watson said it only found out it had been chosen on March 11.
She said: “We have been working flat out. It has been an immense ask and we have got through a staggering amount in that time.”
Healthwatch now has a website – healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk
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