Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which organisations will replace Healthwatch Dudley; and how health and social care will be monitored in Dudley borough.

As set out in the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape report published in July 2025, and in the 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, the statutory functions of local Healthwatch bodies will be transferred to integrated care boards (ICBs) for health, and to local authorities (LAs) for social care.

Both ICBs and LAs will be required to demonstrate how they have gathered patient and user feedback, including and how this has fed into their strategic planning.

To further ensure that the patient voice is at the heart of planning considerations, as part of their regulatory role, the Care Quality Commission will assess whether every commissioner and provider is listening to the views of local people.