Our Advisory Group Volunteer Role

What is the purpose of the role?

The role of the Healthwatch Swindon Advisory Group is to advise on the development of the work undertaken. As an Advisory Group volunteer you will play a crucial role in advising on the development of the work undertaken. Using your skills and knowledge of matters relating to local health and social care to contribute to the development of the projects Healthwatch Swindon work on.

What will I be doing?

As a Healthwatch Advisory Group volunteer member you will be asked to:

• Take part in the decisions on how to allocate funds from the Community Pot budget based on applications from the Voluntary and Community Sector or seeking a voluntary group to undertake work
• Challenge constructively/question the Healthwatch work plan to ensure that work delivered is of high quality and is fulfilling the requirement of the Healthwatch Swindon contract
• Support Healthwatch Swindon staff team to deliver contractual objectives
• Identify services where Enter and View visits can be held, giving  well-reasoned suggestions for why the service(s) should be prioritised
• Identify areas that require further research and / or information and setting up sub groups (task and finish groups) to undertake the work, or using the Community Pot budget  to task a voluntary group to undertake the work;
• Agree the priorities for communication  to the Health and Wellbeing Board;
• Attend Advisory Group meetings in person or contribute by email/google group
• Prepare for meetings by reading minutes and supporting papers
• Influence the work plan of Healthwatch Swindon through group planning and participations in discussions
• Participate in the approval of the Healthwatch Swindon report to the Health and Wellbeing Board
• Participate in decisions to allocate Healthwatch Swindon funds to voluntary sector/community projects which meet the criteria needed
• Agree the Healthwatch Swindon annual report to Healthwatch England
• Declare any relevant personal, professional or commercial interests in any matters being discussed by the group

Personal qualities needed for the role

• Be able to commit the time required to deliver the role effectively (there are a variety of ways to engage and you can read about these below)
• Be reliable and timely when agreeing to undertake volunteering tasks (RSVP to meetings)
• Focus yourself on contributing ideas and feedback that go beyond your individual experiences and consider the wider health and social care issues impacting on people living in Swindon
• Awareness and understanding of health and social care issues of people in Swindon (see Swindon JSNA)
• Committed to attending/engaging at an agreed number of Advisory Group meetings (agreed with Healthwatch Team Manager)
• Good listening and communication skills, confident playing an active role at meetings. Including contributing to discussions and respectfully listening to other people’s views and opinions
• Able to separate your own experiences and interests from other people’s issues

You will be expected to be:

• Committed to improving health and social care services for the people of Swindon
• Non-judgemental in attitude and respectful of others regardless of circumstance
• Committed to equal opportunities practice i.e. challenging discrimination and prejudice
• Reliable and on time for meetings
• Confident working as part of a diverse team
• Motivated and positive in attitude
• Aware of the need for personal boundaries within the context of the meetings
• Aware that we work within the limits of the remit of Healthwatch Swindon. Sometimes we may not make as much progress or have as much impact as we would like and this can feel frustrating. It is important to understand and accept these limits.
• Comfortable with being chaired, which means that sometimes you may be reminded of agenda topics and asked to stop talking if you are speaking outside the boundaries of the agenda and time allocated to meet

How much time and when?  

We ask that you volunteer for 12 months as either a:

• Core group member (attends between 4 -6 meetings in person, in a year)
• Occasional group member (attends at least 2 meetings in person in a year and feeds into the other meetings by email and/or google group)
• Virtual group member (attends no meetings but does regularly feed into work by email and/or google group throughout the year)

 Why volunteer with Healthwatch and The Care Forum?

Your contribution will help give local people a voice and the opportunity to help create a better health and social care system for all of us. This role also offer you the opportunity to:

• Help Healthwatch Swindon to stay focused on issues that are important to people living in Swindon and you will help to promote equality throughout local health and social care services;
• Meeting new people and widen your community knowledge
• Gain new skills and enhance your CV

The group has three levels of commitment which offers an accessible way to get involved.

The Healthwatch Swindon Advisory Group is a diverse steering group including many people with lots of experience, knowledge and skills to share. This is a collaborative, vibrant and friendly local group and we learn from each other and share our skills.

This is a strategic group and as such, offers valuable experience for those who are interested in planning, project work, health and social care, equalities and public engagement.