Regional Voices held a series of events on the Health White Paper in September 2010 and, based on the feedback from the voluntary sector at these events, compiled a response to the White Paper, which can be found by clicking here

There were 9 regional events held at venues across the country and they were attended by more than 1100 organisations from across the full scope of the voluntary and community sector.

Although Department of Health officials attended each of the events, there were a number of questions that were asked but there was not enough time available to answer all the questions raised by the sector.  The Department of Health therefore promised to answer these questions with a written response and a summary of these can be found by clicking here: Questions from the voluntary sector on the Health White Paper

Regional Voices is continuing to work towards influencing the Health and Social Care Bill through its role as a strategic partner.  One of the recurring concerns of the sector at a local level is the membership of Health and Wellbeing Boards.  At the current time, this membership does not include a mandatory space for a voluntary and community sector representative and we are aware of many instances around the country where the sector is therefore being excluded from the table.  Regional Voices has written a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, to request a revision to this and we are awaiting a response currently.  A copy of this letter can be found by clicking here: 110321 Letter to Andrew Lansley re Health & Wellbeing Boards