We are urging MPs to drop government plans to abolish Healthwatch England. Our warning is quite simple: at a make-or-break moment for dentistry, Ministers must not be given a license to mark their own homework.
With the Health Bill now at Committee Stage, we are asking MPs to drop clauses to abolish the patient watchdog. We are also pressing to ensure dentistry’s voice is heard at Integrated Care Board level, and that the approach to the Single Patient Record recognises the dearth of digital investment and infrastructure in dentistry.
While Healthwatch reports have often proved challenging for the profession, we value robust scrutiny, and have welcomed the unique and irreplaceable voice the body has brought to bear on the crisis in dentistry for a generation.
“Ministers must not be given the ability to mark their own homework on dentistry," says our Chair Eddie Crouch.
“Healthwatch England has spoken truth to power here for a generation. Its reports have not always made for easy reading for dentists, but it’s always been an effective and focused voice for patients.
“Its abolition would be a giant leap backwards for healthcare in England.”
Real scrutiny of the Government's record here has never been more important. There remains a material risk that promises to deliver fundamental reform of the NHS contract in this Parliament cannot be kept. Now more than ever ministers and officials require forensic scrutiny at both national and local levels.
