Eddie Duller is chairman of Oxfordshire’s Healthwatch and a former newspaper editor

I don’t like to think of how much of my life has been spent in fusty council and other committee rooms. But if you choose to be a regional or local journalist that is your fate, and to be fair it is where a lot of the news that affects most people’s lives originates.

The good news is that local government is beginning to open up. More decisions are being made in public and the taxpayers are being asked for views on a more frequent basis.

But can the same be said of the health service?

The answer is yes – in part, although the approach to discussing new ideas that have a major impact on people’s lives and informing the public of changes is patchy.

The result is that the hospitals and related health services and social services, which are run by separate bodies, get a negative press overall, when in fact the services in Oxfordshire are better in some respects than in many parts of the country.

Into the middle of this steps Healthwatch Oxfordshire, an independent watchdog formed under the Care Act of 2012, with powers to go into hospitals and other care settings to observe and report on various aspects of the delivery of health and social services and recommend changes.

The authorities are required to respond and explain any actions taken as a result of the recommendations.

The directors of Healthwatch Oxfordshire are volunteers, most of whom have first-hand experience of health and social care, and lead a small, dedicated and highly-qualified staff composed of researchers who provide objective reports on how hospitals, GPs and other social care services are performing.

They also help to inform the public and work closely to help voluntary groups to improve their services. I know from my experience as an investigative and campaigning journalist that we can expect to be treated with suspicion or apprehension, although we have already won recognition and respect for the quality of our research and objective reports.

The pattern which is emerging from our investigations is that while clinical care is of a high standard there is a major problem with communication within the hospital trusts, both internally and with patients and the county council, which is responsible for providing care when people leave hospital.

However, we have been caught up in a funding crisis which will limit the scope of our work. Funding originally came from the Department of Health and passed on to us through the county council. However the money was not ring-fenced and the county council is proposing to cut our £345,000 grant by £100,000.

We are pressing the county council for a contract over four years so we can get more value from our funds and to reduce the one-third cut and phase it over three years to give us time to investigate ways of raising funds independently.

We do understand the plight of the county council but as the only independent watchdog we have an important job to do on behalf of the public at this time because Oxfordshire is experiencing dramatic change in the way health and social services are delivered.

There is a move to treat people nearer their homes rather than flood the major hospitals with patients, many of them elderly and frail.

However this will involve a major restructure of the county’s community hospitals and their roles, the creation of extra services in market towns, hiring more temporary beds to unblock the major hospitals, and a critical look at home care.

All this is happening at a time when the NHS and the county council are strapped for cash, when there is a shortage of GPs, carers and nurses. In other words the infrastructure is creaking at the seams.

However there is a chink of light in this gloomy picture. The Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which pays for a great deal of the services in the area, the hospital trusts and the county council are beginning to pool resources and join up the dots in the health and care pathway.

But one of my concerns is that the changes are beginning to happen without much representation from the public.

The changes are being carried out by a transformation body that meets in private. We have made several attempts to gain a seat on this body so that the interests of the public can be represented, but we have so far been denied on the grounds that those on the body feel they can speak freely if they meet in private.

In my view it is vital that change should be delivered with proper transparency. Those who pay for the services and who may come to rely upon them should know what is proposed and have a say at an early stage.

This is a cause for which we will continue to press and which is backed by a rapidly increasing section of the voluntary sector and the public.

Details of Healthwatch Oxfordshire can be found at healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk