Our team
Portsmouth Healthwatch is all about local voices being able to influence the delivery and design of local services that they use.
Through a committed staff team and a dedicated group of volunteers, we:
- Provide people with information, advice and support about local health and social care services.
- Gather views and experiences of local people on the way services are delivered and provided.
- Influence local services based on the evidence that we gather and through our position on the Health and Wellbeing Board in the city.
- Work with other Healthwatch organisations to build a national picture of people’s views on health and social care services.
- Offer support and guidance to those people that wish to make a complaint about NHS care.
Siobhain started as the Project Manager in April and will be supporting and leading the team in its day-to-day and project activity. Working closely with the Healthwatch Board, commissioners, providers of services and the voluntary sector Siobhain’s aim is to help local people have their say in shaping and developing how health and social care services are provided in Portsmouth. Siobhain has 26 years’ experience of being a manager in the voluntary and not for profit sector, supporting people with long term conditions to influence service provision in their local area. Siobhain has continued to work in the patient engagement and self-management sector and is a keen believer in person-centred approaches to care.
Fergus is the Senior Advocate Coordinator at Healthwatch Portsmouth. He supports people using the NHS complaints procedure. This involves enabling people to express their complaint, get explanations about difficulties in their care, and have an outcome that will help to improve NHS services. Fergus is a Healthwatch member having lived in Portsmouth since coming down from Lincolnshire to the then Portsmouth Polytechnic. Fergus’s background is in social work, Nurse Education and training in Health and Social care and hopes to bring this together to be an advocate for people needing to make a complaint, had a bad experience, of using NHS services.
Charlotte is our new Healthwatch Portsmouth Officer and will be focusing on our information and digital communications activities.
Charlotte will be putting to use her own lived experience of Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis and experience of related healthcare. Charlotte has worked in Marketing and Communications, Digital Engagement and Marketing for both internal staff and external customer audiences. Charlotte’s experience will help us to deliver clear communications, promote our services and improve our analysis of interactions on our digital platforms to help us to help improve health and social care services.