Your Voice, Your Rights: Help Safeguard Independent Voice in Stockport & Greater Manchester

News - 11 August 2025

Healthwatch in Stockport and Greater Manchester are standing alongside local Healthwatch across the country in calling for urgent action to protect the statutory powers that give people an independent voice in health and social care.

A new petition to parliament urges the Government to keep Healthwatch as a strong, independent body, one that continues to listen to local people, hold services to account, and influence change across the NHS and social care.

Why This Matters

Since 2013, Healthwatch has been the independent champion for people who use health and social care services. Our statutory powers mean:

  • Your voice is heard by those who make decisions
  • Your experiences shape services; from GP access to hospital discharge
  • You have support in ensuring you are able to access the health and social care services you need

But now, proposals are on the table that could dilute or dismantle Healthwatch’s statutory role, removing a vital route for public voice in the system.

An Open Letter to Wes Streeting

This follows a growing call for clarity from the new Government. A recent open letter to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, signed by Healthwatch leaders and advocates, outlines the risk of losing one of the few truly independent, place-based voices in the system.

It also highlights how Healthwatch has:

  • Uncovered inequalities and driven service change
  • Held space for communities during crises like COVID-19
  • Worked in partnership with ICS’s, Trusts, and local authorities to make care more inclusive

Healthwatch in Greater Manchester: Our Position

As a regional network representing 10 local Healthwatch across Greater Manchester, we’ve seen first hand how our work makes a difference and so do 98,000 people who have come to Healthwatch Across Greater Manchester over the past two years.

From influencing urgent and emergency care planning, to ensuring voices of children and families on the CAMHS pathway are heard and that services are doing better to reflect lived experience, to shining a light on health equity gaps, our strength comes from having both the independence and the authority to act.

We believe any future model must:

  • Preserve statutory powers and independence
  • Guarantee resourcing to reflect local need
  • Centre public voice in governance at every level of the NHS and ICS

Add Your Voice

We invite everyone who values transparency, inclusion, and accountability in health and care to sign the petition:

This isn’t just about Healthwatch. It’s about protecting the public’s right to be heard and making sure that right doesn’t quietly disappear beneath a few headlines.

Do health and social care services know what you really think?

Share your ideas and experiences and help services hear what works, what doesn’t, and what you want from care in the future. 

Share your views

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