Healthwatch England is an independent consumer champion and is a statutory committee of the Care Quality Commission (the "CQC"). References to "we" or "us" below are to CQC, which includes Healthwatch England. Healthwatch England can be contacted at enquiries@healthwatch.co.uk or on 03000 683 000.

Using our site

The Healthwatch England website is maintained for your personal use and viewing. Access and use by you of this site constitutes acceptance by you of our Terms and Conditions, which take effect from the date of first use.

Copyright

The material featured on this site is subject to Healthwatch England copyright protection unless otherwise indicated.

Healthwatch England copyright protected material may be used in accordance with the Open Government Licence for Public Sector Information if it has been:

  • published on this website
  • published elsewhere by Healthwatch England
  • made publicly available under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
  • or otherwise made publicly available with the consent of Healthwatch England.

Permission to reproduce Healthwatch England protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.

Use of the Healthwatch logo

We don't allow external organisations to use our logo – including all registered providers. The only exceptions may be partner organisations that work closely with us on specific projects. In these cases, we may give permission for our logo to be used.

Our policy on the use of the logo is designed to prevent the public from being misled. Therefore, no provider – including registered providers – are allowed to use the logo.

The Healthwatch logo is a registered trademark and is protected under trademark law. If an external party uses it without permission, this constitutes infringement of our trademark.

We have also developed specific logos for local Healthwatch organisations to use. Use of these logos is by local Healthwatch organisations only and is subject to the Local Healthwatch Trademark Licence Agreement.

Disclaimer

The Healthwatch England website and material relating to Healthwatch or Healthwatch England, information, products and services (or to third party information, products and services), is provided 'as is', without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

We do not warrant that the functions in the material contained on this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy, or reliability of the materials.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of the Healthwatch England website.

Virus protection

We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production. It is always wise for you to run an anti-virus program on all material downloaded from the Internet.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or computer system which may occur whilst using material derived from this website.

You may not use the website or access it for any purpose, and/or to upload any content or data, which involves the transmission or other making available of any computer code, file, or program that is harmful or invasive or is intended to damage or hijack the operation of, or to monitor the use of, any hardware, software, or equipment (including, without limitation, any virus, worm, Trojan horse, Easter egg, time bomb or spyware).

Linking policy

Links from your website to the Healthwatch England website

You are welcome to link to the Healthwatch England website. However, please ensure you comply with the following conditions:

  • You must not imply in any way that Healthwatch England endorses your organisation.
  • You may not use the Healthwatch logo without written agreement from us.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure deep-links to the Healthwatch England website are kept updated. We will not notify you if we move content.

Links from the Healthwatch England website to your website

At this time, Healthwatch England only links to organisations that fit the following criteria:

  • Listing and linking of external websites should not be taken as endorsement of any kind.
  • External websites must have a clear aim, be highly relevant to the Healthwatch England audience and must, in the Healthwatch England's opinion, contain quality content.
  • Government and public sector agency sites – i.e. departments or non-departmental government bodies
  • Statutory bodies
  • Educational establishments
  • Sites that have some connection with government or established authority – e.g. BBC, Stationery Office
  • Selected voluntary bodies and charities with advocacy functions of national importance
  • Selected trade, professional associations and unions.

Any links we add to our site must be directly relevant to specific sections or pages of the Healthwatch England website.

Healthwatch England reserves the right to refuse or include links to any website.

  • Links must be directly relevant to specific sections or pages of the Healthwatch England website.
  • Sites for which there are grounds for doubting the accuracy of the content will be excluded. A site may be excluded if the professional reputation of the site owner is unknown and/or there are grounds for doubting the accuracy of the content or suspecting critical bias.
  • Sites that push particular agenda or interests that might run counter to government policy or main messages will be excluded.
  • Private sector sites that promote company products or services will not normally be included.

Although we will endeavour to maintain links to other websites, we cannot guarantee that these links will work all the time and we have no control over the availability or reliability of linked pages.