Local patient watchdogs to stay open after U-turn

More than 150 patient watchdogs including six in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire will stay open following a government U-turn.

Last year it was announced Healthwatch boards, which advocate on behalf of patients, would be abolished as part of a 10-year health plan to reduce bureaucracy.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "We will retain Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch, while strengthening them to ensure patient voices are heard and can influence real change."

Maxine Taffetani, the CEO of Healthwatch Milton Keynes, said: "There were some happy tears in our office. We had been quietly optimistic but we don't often see these changes made when a direction has been set."

Other Healthwatch boards will remain open in Buckinghamshire, central Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Luton and Bedford.

The decision to close the boards was originally announced in June 2025 by then health secretary Wes Streeting, who said the NHS needed "more doers and fewer checkers" as part of a national review into patient safety.

However, many of the boards, including Milton Keynes, signed an open letter urging the government to reconsider the proposals.

Cooper, who replaced Streeting as health secretary in July, said: "I've always been clear on the importance of people and communities having a say in local services and that's why I said I would review all the reforms in this area."

Healthwatch Milton Keynes said it has helped people without ID or proof of address to register with a GP, after it was found to be a problem for people in temporary accommodation or experiencing homelessness.

Taffetani said: "Politicians have rallied around and I think it shows that independent voice has been a mechanism for over 50 years and people really saw the risk for people when they couldn't speak up independently.

"We're a small team, so I think we had pulled back on volunteering a little because of the changes, so we'll be able to reconnect with both our existing volunteers and look about how we can strengthen our model with more volunteering."

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed the existing system would also be strengthened so patients' and public experiences played a greater role in improving health and social care services.

Taffetani added: "I understand there is a challenging funding environment out there, but hopefully the commitment's been made to retain independent voices for residents and there is some investment made into the future of it."

When I spoke to Maxine Taffetani she said she had been "quietly optimistic" a U-turn would happen and it seemed a change at the top in Downing Street was key.

Last November, when Andy Burnham was still mayor of Greater Manchester he wrote a joint letter to Streeting setting out his strong opposition to plans to scrap the Healthwatch boards calling it "a serious mistake at a time when public trust, lived experience, and community involvement are more vital than ever".

Now, just over 100 days after becoming prime minister, Burnham has decided to retain the 153 local boards who received funding each year from the DHSC via the local council.

Healthwatch Milton Keynes gets £173,500 per year and Taffetani said it had received no inflationary increase for a decade.

With the population of Milton Keynes now north of 300,000 and expected to hit 400,000 by 2050, the team at Healthwatch Milton Keynes would be hoping to see levels of funding increase to reflect that rise.

Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Contact us below.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.