Joining the Healthwatch Southwark Advisory Board: reflecting on my journey so far
In the summer of 2024, I applied to join the Healthwatch Southwark Advisory Board. The Board is a consultative body made up of committed volunteers, which supports the staff team to deliver the aims of Healthwatch in Southwark. Its key functions include advising on strategy and priorities, making decisions about how Healthwatch Southwark should use its powers, ensuring that local people are involved in the work and representing the organisation in wider stakeholder engagement. I was pleased that my application was successful and I joined the Advisory Board in October 2024.
I applied to the role as I was looking for an opportunity to join a Board, so I could use my spare time to support a voluntary organisation and have the opportunity to develop my leadership skills. Healthwatch Southwark is an excellent organisation for me to volunteer for as I’m passionate about ensuring that health and care services meet the needs of diverse communities and I believe that listening to patients about their experiences is vital to achieve this. I’ve become interested in this area through my experience working as a Programme Manager in two NHS charities, where I have funded several projects which involve listening to patient experiences. I’ve also been a Southwark resident for over a decade so joining the Board is a fantastic opportunity to help improve services in my local area.
It has been great experience so far as I have been warmly welcomed and supported by the other Advisory Board members and the staff. I’ve already learnt a lot about the projects which the organisation is working on, and about the Listening Tour which was conducted in the summer. I attended my first Advisory Board meeting in November 2024 and was glad to have the opportunity to be involved in a working group already. In 2025, I’m looking forward to working with the Advisory Board and staff team to prioritise the next set of projects for Healthwatch Southwark to work on, which will be informed by the Listening Tour results.
The Advisory Board is currently looking for more members. My advice for anyone who is interested is to carefully read through the role description and contact info@healthwatchsouthwark.org to find out more. You can think broadly about the skills and experience which you might have that you could bring to the role. The Board needs to represent the communities of Southwark so lived experience, voluntary experience and professional experience are all really useful, as well as knowledge about local communities. It’s important that you can commit to the time required so it’s worth discussing this with the team. So far, I’ve found it that it’s possible to fulfil the role alongside my full time job. I’d definitely recommend the role as a great opportunity to help to improve health and care in Southwark.
This blog post was written by Natasha Wright.
