It is being reported that over two hundred health organisations, including Healthwatch, will be shut down under the government’s 10-Year Health Plan, due to be published shortly.

Responding on behalf of Mental Health Matters, Jane Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We previously warned the government that the drastic changes they are implementing to the integrated care system could impact the quality of services and the safety of the people accessing them.

Earlier this month, the Health Secretary told sector leaders at the NHS Confed Expo that the government "is not embarking on another top-down reorganisation". However, it is hard to see these reforms as anything other than an expensive reorganisation of the entire system.

The government is right to focus on avoiding duplication and improving the efficiency of the NHS. But scrapping local Healthwatch groups will remove a key way for communities to hold their local health services to account. We risk decisions being made far from the people and places they affect.

We strongly urge the government to think about these changes and the impact they may have on both the system and local people."