Who we are and what we do
We’re Hertfordshire's independent health and social care champion.
We make sure NHS leaders and other decision-makers hear your voice and use your feedback to improve care.
If you use GPs and hospitals, dentists, pharmacies, care homes or other support services, we want to hear from you.
We listen to your needs, experiences and concerns about local health and social care services, so we can speak out on your behalf. We gather your feedback through high-quality research and engagement and by inviting you to share your experiences.
Our aim is to get services right for the future and ensure your worries and concerns about current services are addressed. We want to make sure those in charge put you at the heart of care and, if local needs are not being met, we have statutory powers to hold the system to account.
You can be confident that we are entirely independent and impartial and anything you share with us is confidential.
How we work
We are here to listen to what you like about services and what you think can be improved.
All of our work is based on what people tell us. By collecting data, views and lived experiences of health and social care services, we can confidently feed back and make recommendations to those in charge.
Our approach to holding to account includes regular meetings with health and care leaders, to assess key initiatives and highlight issues raised by the patients and public. Health and care commissioners and providers must respond to our concerns, reports and recommendations by explaining what actions they will take, or why they are not taking action.
We work closely with partners and stakeholder organisations in Hertfordshire – these include voluntary and community organisations, as well as health and social care regulators, commissioners and providers.
Where possible, we will let you know when changes are planned to services in our community and help you to have a say. We will also encourage those in charge of local care to involve you when changes are being planned to services.
You can also speak to us to find information about health and social care services available locally.
Advice and information
Access the support and information you need to help services work better.
Our Policies
Our policies are approved by the Board and reviewed regularly.
You can read all of our policies on this website.
Visiting Services
Find out about our right to Enter & View local health and social care services, and how we use this power to help improve care.
