IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB0074 LMA/4747
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SOUTHWARK COMMUNITY HEALTH COUNCIL
Date(s): 1974-2003
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 4.21 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Southwark Community Health Council
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Community Health Councils were established in England and Wales in 1974 "to represent the interests in the health service of the public in its district" (National Health Service Reorganisation Act, 1973). Often referred to as 'the patient’s voice in the NHS', each Community Health Council (CHC) served the public and patients in its local area by representing their interests to National Health Service (NHS) authorities and by monitoring the provision of health services to their communities.
CHCs were independent statutory bodies with certain legal powers. CHCs were entitled to receive information about local health services, to be consulted about changes to health service provision, and to carry out monitoring visits to NHS facilities. For this reason, CHCs were sometimes known as the 'watchdogs’ of the NHS. The co-ordinated monitoring of waiting times in Accident and Emergency departments led to ‘Casualty Watch’ which gained national press coverage. Locally, many CHCs represented patients’ views by campaigning for improved quality of care and better access to NHS services, and by responding to local issues such as proposed hospital closures.
Each CHC had around 20 voluntary members from the local area. Half were appointed the local authority, a third came from voluntary bodies and the remainder were appointed by the Secretary of State for Health. Members met every month to six weeks and meetings were usually open to the general public. Guest speakers or guest attendees were often invited, particularly when a specific topic or issue was under discussion.
All CHCs employed a small number of paid office staff and some had shop-front offices, often on the high street, where members of the public could go for advice and information about local NHS services. CHCs published leaflets and guidance on a wide variety of topics from ‘how to find a GP’ to ‘how to make a complaint’.
Within the guiding principles and statutory duties of the legislation, CHCs developed organically in response to the needs of the communities they served and for this reason considerable variation can be found in the records of different CHCs.
Southwark CHC began life as King’s Health District (Teaching) CHC, known from November 1974 onwards simply as King’s CHC. The CHC was divided into three geographical sub-groups: Northern Southwark; Southern Southwark; and Lambeth. A permanent shop-front office was established at 75 Denmark Hill in September 1976 and remained the CHC’s base until 2003.
In the NHS Reorganisation of 1982 King’s CHC was wound up and held its last meeting on 20 May 1982. The inaugural meeting of Camberwell CHC was held on 16 September 1982 with many of the same members. The records of the CHC continue seamlessly between the two organisations.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of Southwark Community Health Council (CHC) and predecessors (1974-2003). Includes Minutes and Meeting Papers (1974-2003), Publicity Files (1990-1991), Attendance Registers (1974-1992) and Chief Officer's Papers (1979-2003).
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Arranged in four series as follows:
LMA/4747/01: Minutes and meeting papers
LMA/4747/02: Publicity files
LMA/4747/03: Attendance registers
LMA/4747/04: Chief officer's papers
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the EU General Data Protection Regulations, 2018.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: https://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in 2004.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Added July 2018.