COVER, together with its equivalent organisations in the other English regions, is a partner in a national Regional Voices project around communicating with the third sector. We work to improve information exchange between the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and the Department of Health by

• Providing opportunities and support for VCS organisations to come together and collaborate to address health related provision.
• Building the capability and capacity of the VCS to engage with the health and social care agenda.

We hold quarterly Health and Social Care Cluster meetings. For more information about the project or to get involved in the Health and Social Care Cluster please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Click here to visit the Regional Voices website. 

On November 7th 2012 COVER, in partnership with Regional Voices and the Local Government Association, organised a Healthwatch Design Day: an opportunity for the voluntary sector in the East of England to interact and understand how to contribute to the functions of Local Healthwatch. The event was well received by all involved with still much learning and questioning needed in order to enable Healthwatch to achieve the functions as intended with the VCS. To aid the realtionship between Healthwatch and the VCS the outcomes, messages and learning from the day will be reported back to the Local Government Association and Healthwatch England.

Below you can find the links to the Power Point presentations delivered on the day: 

VCS and Healthwatch: working together

Engaging VCS in Healthwatch Hertfordshire

Research

COVER has published findings from its research on VCS engagement with GP consortia in the East of England.

You may also find recent research by Stevenage CVS on The relationship between GP Surgeries and Voluntary and Community Organisations, as well as a report by Carers in Hertfordshire useful reading.

COVER is currently mapping VCS health and social care providers in the East of England. This began as an exercise for the Department of Health, but with such a short time frame for responses, we decided to extend this into an ongoing exercise. If you would like to be involved please complete the excel template and email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please note that as the aim of this exercise is to improve information sharing in the VCS and potentially provide a useful resource for GP consortia, we will be making data available on our website for public access.

Useful Documents

We produce a monthly 'Summary on a Page' (SOAP) which is regularly based on a health related document. Please click here for more information. The list below highlights some  key health policy related documents. There are also a range of health related resources on our resources page. Any consultations which COVER has responded to, including Department of Health consultations, can be found on our consultations page

• Future East Report - Care workers... who cares? - May 2012
• Local Healthwatch: A strong voice for people - the policy explained - Mar 2012
• Summary of Developments in Public Health - Feb 2012
• Children and Young Peoples Health Outcome Strategy - Feb 2012
• Interview - Caroline Humpries - Programme Lead, Primary Care Transformation, Commissioning Development Directorate for NHS Midlands and East - Jan 2012
• Guide to the Voluntary Sector for Commissioners and Policy Makers in Health - Dec 2011
• Health and Wellbeing Boards - Dec 2011
• JSNA and Health and Wellbeing Strategies - Dec 2011
• LINks to Healthwatch - Dec 2011
• Department of Health White Paper: Liberating the NHS

• Regional Voices summary of  Department of Health White Paper

• Healthy lives, healthy people: Public Health White Paper
• Regional Voices Public Health White Paper summary
• Government Response to the Health White Paper consultation
• NHS Operating Framework for 2012/13
• NHS Outcomes Framework
• Regional Voices letter to the Secretary of State for Health about Health & Wellbeing Boards
• A Vision for Adult Social Care: Capable Communities and Active Citizens
• Regional Voices summary of A Vision for Adult Social Care
• COVER document on personalisation
• Health and Wellbeing Board publication: New Partnerships, New Opportunities & Case Studies

The Health and Social Care Bill
The Health and Social Care Bill forms part of the Government's vision to modernise the NHS so that it is built around patients, led by health professionals and focused on delivering world-class healthcare outcomes. The Bill takes forward the areas of Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS and the subsequent Government response, which require primary legislation.  Click here to see progress of the Bill.

We recently hosted the Department of Health's Listening Exercise for the VCS in the East of England, which was attended by one of the Ministers for Health, MP Simon Burns. You can read the key points from this event here.