{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/61162fa9510c6700127d4527/6a43934fc2fe1c7f49124fb9?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"After Healthwatch, who will listen to patients?","description":"<p>The government has decided to scrap Healthwatch in England. So what happens when the NHS’s independent patient champion disappears next spring?</p><p><br></p><p>Will moving its functions elsewhere cut duplication and simplify the patient safety landscape? Or could it weaken transparency and make it easier for concerns to be overlooked?</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Health on the Line, Adam Brimelow is joined by Lord Philip Hunt OBE, Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, and Gita Malhotra, chair of Healthwatch Redbridge, to discuss what Healthwatch’s abolition means for patients.</p><p><br></p><p>Plus, Adam speaks to John Browett, chair of NHS Online, the NHS’s first digital-only trust. As it prepares to launch next autumn, he explores how it fits the government’s drive from analogue to digital healthcare, and whether a fully 'online hospital' will improve access or risk fragmenting care.</p><p><br></p><p>Health on the Line is an NHS Alliance podcast, produced by HealthCommsPlus.</p>","author_name":"The NHS Alliance"}