30.01.2017
New roles and structure for Healthwatch Croydon
A statement from John Davey, Chair of Healthwatch Croydon:
I am pleased to inform you that the council have now confirmed their intention to renew Healthwatch Croydon’s contract for a further year to 31 March 2018. They are likely to initiate a tendering process later this year for funding in 2018 and beyond.
Now we know our funding position, we have been able to put in place plans to retain and recruit staff and significantly reduce some of the uncertainty that some of our volunteers may have been feeling about the organisation. This week, we announce two new vacancies, see https://www.healthwatchcroydon.co.uk/about-us/role-vacancies/. Many of you will be aware that our Community Analyst Darren Morgan has chosen to pursue a freelance career and is currently working his notice.
We have decided to recruit a Community Engagement Manager who will perform many of Darren’s functions relating to outreach and producing research reports. At the same time recognising that Darren had some specialist skills and had built up an excellent body of evidence, we will be retaining Darren for 2 days a month to provide specialist support.
The Community Engagement Manager will be supported by a Volunteer Coordinator who will be responsible for engaging with our volunteers on a regular basis and identifying opportunities for you to contribute to Healthwatch in a more structured and supported way. Our recent volunteer survey, which a number of you have completed, will provide excellent insights into the challenges and aspirations of our volunteers and help focus the development of our volunteer engagement plans by our Coordinator.
I am also pleased to say that our funding has allowed us to confirm our CEO as a permanent appointee beyond 31 March 2017. Jai has been working to define organisational structure, roles and objectives going forward and he will be leading our bid under the tendering process later this year. His continuation in the role will give us the direction and stability we need to champion the views of service users in these difficult times for the NHS and caring services in Croydon.
