Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen

What Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen does

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen is an independent statutory non-profit organization established in 2012 under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, serving as the local consumer champion for health and social care services in the Blackburn with Darwen borough of Lancashire, England. The organization is commissioned by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and operates as one of 131 local Healthwatch services across England, coordinated under the national Healthwatch England umbrella. Its core function is to collect feedback from residents about their experiences with GPs, dentists, hospitals, mental health services, care homes, and pharmacies; produce reports used by NHS bodies and the local authority to inform service design; and exercise statutory powers including the Enter & View observational program for care and health settings.

The organization runs a portfolio of engagement services including community feedback collection (engaging 2,378 residents in the most recent reporting year), the Enter & View statutory visit program, the Young Healthwatch youth engagement initiative, the Royal Society of Public Health Youth Health Champions Level 2 accreditation, mental health resource navigation, and targeted research projects on topics such as bereavement support (652 responses), community pharmacy (254 responses), and youth vaping (107 respondents). Its core technology is a digital engagement platform and community feedback collection system supporting survey distribution (SurveyMonkey), a website information portal at healthwatchblackburnwithdarwen.co.uk, and direct telephone support (01254 480002).

The business model is publicly funded via a single commissioning contract with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, with services provided free of charge to residents. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed. Through the Healthwatch Together partnership, the organization collaborates with Healthwatch Blackpool, Cumbria, and Lancashire to extend community engagement across two counties. It maintains operational partnerships with the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, NHS England, Public Health England, the Blackburn with Darwen Food Resilience Alliance, and the Royal Society of Public Health, among others.

Name

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen

Legal name

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen

Website

https://healthwatchblackburnwithdarwen.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen is a statutory non-profit, established in 2012 under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, that collects resident feedback on local health and social care services and advocates for service improvement across the Blackburn with Darwen borough. It is publicly funded by the local authority and operates free of charge to residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Advocacy Services

NAICS

Health Care and Social Assistance (62), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Social Assistance (624), Other Individual and Family Services (62419)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Chronic Disease Management & Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) (HSABACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

EHS Auditing, Inspections & Assurance (BPAHAJAG), Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Telepsychiatry & Care Coordination Platforms (HLALAEAH)

Keywords

• Health advocacy services
• Patient feedback collection
• Social care advocacy
• Community health engagement
• Healthwatch services

Headquarters

HQ city

Blackburn

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public Funding: Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen is commissioned by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council to provide independent health and social care advocacy services. As a statutory body established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the organization operates as a publicly funded entity.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen is an independent statutory advocacy organisation that collects feedback from local residents about their experiences of health and social care services. It conducts community-based research, performs statutory Enter & View visits to care settings, engages young people through dedicated youth programs, and produces reports used by NHS trusts and local authorities to improve service delivery.

Product overview

Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen operates as a community health and social care advocacy organization, not a traditional product company. It offers a suite of engagement and information services including: community feedback collection on health and social care services, annual report publication, the statutory Enter & View observational program, health care access research, Young Healthwatch youth engagement, Youth Health Champions peer education, mental health resource navigation, community pharmacy feedback collection, and a website information portal. These services function as an integrated advocacy ecosystem rather than a modular software product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Healthwatch Together: A partnership between Healthwatch Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Cumbria and Lancashire offering community engagement and co-production across Lancashire and Cumbria.

Products and services

• Community Feedback Collection Services Collects feedback from Blackburn with Darwen residents about their experiences with health and social care services including GPs, dentists, hospitals, mental health services, care homes, and pharmacies. Engaged with 2,378 residents in a recent year to gather experiences of accessing primary health and social care services.
• Enter & View Program Statutory observational visits to health and social care settings including care homes, NHS settings, and other facilities to understand experiences of residents, staff, and relatives. Produces published reports on findings.
• Young Healthwatch Youth engagement program focused on health-related topics affecting young people in Blackburn with Darwen, including surveys and discussions on issues like vaping with 107 young people aged 11-17.
• Youth Health Champions Program Royal Society of Public Health's Youth Health Champions Level 2 accreditation program that gives young people skills, knowledge and confidence to act as peer educators on healthy lifestyles.
• Mental Health Support Navigation Connects residents with mental health resources including LSCFT Talking Therapies, Lancashire Mind, NHS Mental Health services, Samaritans, Kooth, and Papyrus.
• Health Care Access Research Research projects examining issues around people's experiences accessing primary care services including GPs, dentists, hospital and mental health services, care homes and pharmacies.
• Community Pharmacy Services Feedback Engagement project to gather patient experiences of community pharmacy services to inform the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) process. Engaged 254 people between February and April 2025.
• Annual Reports Publication Published annual reports documenting organisational activities, achievements, and financial information for fiscal years from 2016/17 through 2025/26.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Healthwatch TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthwatch Together is an exciting partnership offering community engagement and co-production across Lancashire and Cumbria. Bringing together the combined expertise of Healthwatch Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen, Cumbria and Lancashire to champion the voices of communities across two counties.
• Blackburn with Darwen Food Resilience AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA collaborative alliance working on the principle of people-powered change to tackle food poverty, promote healthy and accessible food, build community food knowledge, and reduce food waste. Includes community, voluntary, faith, third, and public sector organisations.
• Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Clinical Strategy engagement to gather patient experiences of mental health and community services across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
• East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ELHT to establish Young People's Participation Panel and improve hospital services for young people. Also worked on seated exercise classes engagement project.
• Blackburn with Darwen Borough CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioning authority for Healthwatch services. Partners on Food Resilience Alliance, Public Health initiatives, and various community health programs.
• Public Health England / NHS EnglandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners on community pharmacy engagement, Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, and various public health campaigns and initiatives.
• Blackburn Youth ZoneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to launch Youth Health Champions program targeting young people in Blackburn with Darwen.
• UNICEF Baby Friendly InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlackburn with Darwen maternity services awarded UNICEF Gold Baby Friendly accreditation - first in the country to achieve this status.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Healthwatch Lancashire: Local Healthwatch organization covering Lancashire, and a named partner in the Healthwatch Together consortium with Healthwatch BwD. Operates the same statutory patient advocacy role, same revenue model (local authority commissioning), and same product suite (Enter & View, surveys, reports). Most directly comparable peer.
• Healthwatch Cumbria: Local Healthwatch covering Cumbria and a Healthwatch Together consortium partner with Healthwatch BwD. Identical statutory role under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, similar headcount scale, and shared regional engagement pipeline.
• Healthwatch Blackpool: Local Healthwatch covering Blackpool and a Healthwatch Together partner. Same statutory remit, same advocacy/engagement product set, same funding structure via local authority commissioning. Direct operational peer.

Others

• Patients Association: National independent patient advocacy charity linked from Healthwatch BwD's resources. Operates a wider national patient voice remit; serves as a complement rather than direct competitor at the borough level.
• The Care Network: Lancashire-based health and care partnership organization listed as a partnership-working link on Healthwatch BwD's site. Functions as an ecosystem enabler and connector rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Age UK Blackburn with Darwen: Local branch of a large national charity providing advice, advocacy, and services for older people. Overlaps with Healthwatch BwD's older-person segment and dementia pathway work, and competes for similar local-authority and NHS commissioning funds.
• Mind (Lancashire): National mental health charity with local Lancashire presence, providing mental health services and advocacy that overlap with Healthwatch BwD's mental health support navigation work. Larger scale and broader remit; operates as an established incumbent in the same local mental health ecosystem.
• Healthwatch England: National umbrella body for the local Healthwatch network, with which Healthwatch BwD is affiliated. Operates at national scale rather than local-borough scale, providing network brand, resources, and policy representation, but does not deliver direct advocacy services.

Regional players

• Voiceability: UK advocacy charity providing independent advocacy services including in Blackburn with Darwen, linked from Healthwatch BwD's advice pages. Adjacent advocacy remit (NHS complaints, mental health, learning disability) in overlapping geographies.
• n-compass (BwD Advocacy Hub): Provides NHS Complaints Advocacy services across Lancashire and partners with Healthwatch BwD via the BwD Advocacy Hub. Operates adjacent patient advocacy services in the same geography under different statutory framework.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/home
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/healthwatch-blackburn-with-darwen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen