North Northamptonshire Healthwatch

The important role of the local Healthwatch in providing a strong and independent public voice is both recognised and valued. The Health & Social Care Act 2012 places a duty for top tier authorities to locally commission Healthwatch, which is the primary public champion for both local health and social care systems. Healthwatch plays an important role in monitoring the quality of local services and gathering the views and experiences of customers and the wider public; and presenting these views to sector providers and commissioners to influence service provision in the local area.

Local Healthwatch's relationship with, and responsibilities to Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will allow this informing and influencing role to be mirrored at a national level.

Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) established its local Healthwatch services in April 2013. Healthwatch Northamptonshire is well embedded within the county. Since April 1st 2021, NCC has been replaced by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) and West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).

From 1st April 2025 North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) will commission its own Healthwatch.

This soft market testing exercise relates to the potential commissioning and procurement plans for a Local Healthwatch Service in Wandsworth.

North Northamptonshire Council, is seeking to engage with organisations who deliver Healthwatch Services or related services. In order to gain the perspective of the market in shaping the future service provision in North Northamptonshire. We are seeking written responses to a Soft Market Testing Questionnaire that has been designed for this purpose