Kings Fund study: The Future of Patient Voice

Since 2013, Healthwatch has operated nationally and locally to capture the experiences of people using health and care services in England. Its core purpose has been to support service improvement by gathering public feedback, working with communities across the country, and sharing insights with government bodies, the NHS and local authorities to inform policy and service development.

In June 2025, the government announced plans to close Healthwatch England and the network of 153 local Healthwatch organisations. In line with the recommendations of the Dash review of patient safety, Healthwatch England’s strategic functions will transfer to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The statutory duties of local Healthwatch will move to NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) for healthcare, and to local authorities for adult social care.

This week’s King’s Fund report, The Future of Patient Voice: Learning from the Healthwatch Model, highlights that Healthwatch’s independence from the system has been central to its credibility with the public. That independence has enabled local Healthwatch organisations to build strong community relationships, gather meaningful feedback, and shine a light on how health and social care services are working for patients and service users.

While the report recognises what has worked well, it also notes that Healthwatch’s limited statutory powers and policy levers have constrained its ability to drive change. It can surface issues but has struggled to hold the system to account for acting on them.

Nevertheless, the report concludes that Healthwatch has been more effective than previous approaches to embedding patient voice. It emphasises that any future model must demonstrate independence from government and the wider health and care system if it is to maintain public trust.

Overall, the King’s Fund concludes that Healthwatch has been more successful than previous approaches to patient voice, and stresses that any future system must remain independent if it is to keep the public’s confidence:

“Any future model must enhance – not weaken – the system’s capacity to hear, understand and respond to people’s experiences. It needs to maintain a level of independence from the health and care system to ensure that whatever is put in place can speak truth to power and raise difficult messages where necessary.”

Page 3, The future of patient voice