Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential savings to the public purse of abolishing Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch.

The potential savings from abolishing Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch are dependent future policy decisions regarding the approach taken to collecting user experiences post-abolition. Our intention is to place responsibility for listening to patients and the public with the organisations that plan and deliver services. These are local authorities for social care, and integrated care boards for healthcare. At the national level, we are also bringing patient voice into the Department of Health and Social Care, through a new Patient Experience Directorate where it can drive real change.

As the detail of the future approaches are still in development phase, it is not possible to fully quantify cost benefits at this stage. The impact assessment published alongside the Health Bill provides quantification of any illustrative benefits where possible noting the assumptions made and is available at the following link:

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-02/0009/ia_Patient_safety_measures.pdf