Get Involved

There are various ways you can get involved with Healthwatch Derby, with as much or as little time commitment as you choose.

Jobs at Healthwatch Derby

We are not currently recruiting for any job roles at Healthwatch Derby

Become a Healthwatcher

Signing up as a Healthwatcher means that you will receive our updates and be the first to find out about meetings, events, consultations, surveys and other opportunities to help your voice be heard.

For more information on how to become a Healthwatcher, please contact Rebecca Johnson at: [email protected]

Become a Healthwatch Champion

Healthwatch Champions are our more involved volunteers and they take part in a range of activities including:

visiting health and social care establishments as part of Enter and View;
taking part in our Mystery Shopper programme;
helping promote Healthwatch Derby at events;
collecting people’s views and experiences of Derby’s health and social care services; and
representing us at meetings and forums.

Above all else, our Healthwatch Champions are committed to improving health and social care services and support the Healthwatch Derby team.

Please note that not all of these volunteering opportunities are available at the moment due to the pandemic.

For more information on how to become a Healthwatch Champion, please contact Rebecca Johnson at: [email protected]

Become a Board Member

Do you want to champion the views of local people who use health and social care services?

We are looking to recruit board members who will be able to attend meetings in person or remotely to help facilitate Healthwatch Derby’s strategic direction and objectives.

This provides an exciting opportunity to join a board that represents and amplifies the voices of people who use health and social care services within Derby City. The work we do engages the public and aids improvement in service design and delivery.

Essential: Board members will be expected to live in Derby or use Derby City services and have access to email. You should be a good communicator, and also respect confidentiality of matters discussed within board meetings.

Desirable: Desirable but non-essential skills could include personal or professional experience of the health and social care sector, digital marketing, journalism/media, equality and diversity, volunteer recruitment, fundraising and campaigning, community engagement.

For more information on how to become a Healthwatch Board Member, please contact Rebecca Sumpter at: [email protected]

Become a Youth Board Member

Do you want to champion the views of local young people who use health and social care services in Derby City? Are you looking for volunteering experience within the health and social care sector?

We are looking to recruit Young Board Members to support our existing board, and explain young people’s points of view on health and social care services in Derby City. As a youth member, you will not be asked to become a Director of the organisation or take part in financial decisions but you will have an equal vote if any voting takes place. No prior experience is required – just bring yourself, your energy and your voice!

We hold board meetings every other month, and these can be attended in person or remotely through an online platform such as teams/zoom.

Essential:

* All board members will be expected to live in Derby or use Derby City services and have access to email. You should be a good communicator, and be able to respect confidentially of matters discussed within board meetings.

Desirable skills:

* Articulate and confident to raise issues or concerns for young people.

* Contributing and gathering of young people’s opinions on services and provision.

* Creativity and ideas for social media content.

* Energy and judgement.

* Contribution to the team’s engagement with young people in the city.

* Strong interest and commitment to Healthwatch Derby’s values.

All positions are unpaid but expenses are provided. We value and promote diversity and are committed to equality of opportunity for all and appointments will be made on merit.

For more information on how to become a Healthwatch Youth Board Member, please contact Rebecca Sumpter at: [email protected]

Mystery Shopper

You could be a Mystery Shopper if you’re going to be using any of these services soon, or if you have visited any of them in the last three months:

GP
Hospital (prebooked appointment)
Dentist
Optician
Pharmacy

There is a separate survey for each service and they cover a range of subjects including appointments/referrals, access and information. You can find the links for these here:

Mystery shopper GP https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/RN44Y/
Mystery shopper pre booked hospital appointment https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/5BATH/
Mystery shopper dental https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/H216S/
Mystery shopper optician https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EU1XY/
Mystery shopper pharmacy https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/64SFB/

Please make sure that you complete the correct survey as, although they are fairly similar, the questions do vary depending on the service. You can complete as many surveys as you would like to and each one should only take a few minutes. As you will see, there are a few things to think about before your appointment at the top of each survey. Underneath that is a section for you to tell us details of the visit – Name of Healthwatcher (your name) is optional and will not be included in any reports, but it is really important to tell us the name of the service (including the department if applicable) and the date of your visit if we are to supply meaningful feedback.

We put any views and experiences that you tell us about onto our database, even if you choose just to tick the boxes and not to add any comments. We then send regular feedback reports to the service providers and commissioners to help shape and improve future health and social care services in Derby.

For more information on how to become a Mystery Shopper, please contact Rebecca Johnson at: [email protected]