Your feedback July 2024

Your feedback July 2024

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The services you gave us feedback about the most this month were hospitals and GP services. Access to hospitals was the main concern, specifically the length of time patients had to wait to get an appointment, followed by communication issues. Feedback around GP services was to do with people feeling pressured to go online to make an appointment or access other services, and poor service generally.

This month’s focus

Our Here to Hear drop-in sessions took place in Alnwick, Morpeth, Hexham, Prudhoe, Bedlington, and Ashington. We also attended the SeaFit event for fishermen in Amble, a North Northumberland Autistic Society support group in Chatton, and Choppington Disability Group’s coffee morning.

Due to high demand an extra 2500 copies of our cost of living booklet were printed and distributed across the county. Plans to produce this resource in six other languages and in easy read are underway.

The Big Conversation launched this month. This is a joint initiative between local Healthwatch and the NHS in the North East and Cumbria, and aims to better understand experiences of women’s health and healthcare.

Our online talk was from Northumberland Joint Musculoskeletal and Pain Service (JMAPS).

Read more in our short report

Join the Big Conversation

Join the Big Conversation

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Join the Big Conversation about women’s health

The NHS Integrated Care Board for the North East and North Cumbria is working with local Healthwatch to better understand experiences of women’s health and healthcare. We want to know what’s working well and what could be improved.

The Big Conversation aims to find out what matters most to women and girls when it comes to their health. As part of this you are invited to share your views about women’s health issues and accessing health services.

Join the Big Conversation by completing this short survey and tell us:

  • What matters to you about your health?
  • What is important when you use women’s health services?
  • How comfortable are you talking to doctors about women’s health issues?
  • What are your top health concerns?
  • Where do you find information about women’s health?

The survey will only take around 10 minutes and your answers will help create better health plans for women and girls in our region.

If you fill in the survey, you can take part in a prize draw to win a £100 Love to Shop voucher.

This survey has now closed.

Here to Hear – at our monthly drop-ins

Here to Hear – at our monthly drop-ins

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Healthwatch Northumberland Monthly Drop-ins

Come and see us at one of our monthly drop-ins, which we hold in all five local council areas of the county. These sessions are a chance for residents to tell us, in confidence, about their experiences of NHS and social care services so that we can understand what is working well and what could be improved. You can also use our Signposting and Information Service to find out more about local support and services. Call in to speak to our friendly team at one of the venues below, or if you’d prefer to make a specific appointment for one of the sessions, please get in touch.

We also attend one-off events throughout the county. Please check our events calendar or social media for more details.

You can leave feedback at any time here on our website

Annual Event – Delivering in Berwick!

Annual Event – Delivering in Berwick!

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Join us for our Annual Event 2024

The Maltings, Berwick, Wednesday 23 October 2024

 

This is a free event for people who live or work in Northumberland and are interested in local health and social care services. We’d love you to join us.

The event is in two parts –

10.30am – 12.00pm

A drop-in information event where you can speak to, and pick up information from, NHS and community services, taking place in the studio.

12.30pm – 2.00pm

A sit-down event in the theatre where you can hear about our work over the last year, and from NHS and care providers about delivering services in the area. More details on our guest speakers to follow.

We’ll be serving coffee and cake ahead of the sit-down event.

You can join us for one or both parts of the day! If you are attending the theatre event we ask that you register for your free place. There is no need to register for the information event.

 

Online event – Diabetes UK

Online event – Diabetes UK

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Join us on Friday 13 September to hear from Susan Bathgate from Diabetes UK. In this free, online public event Susan will provide information about the different types of diabetes with a focus on type 2 diabetes and how to manage and live well with the condition.

We will also hear about national and local support available from Diabetes UK. There will be a chance to ask questions after the presentation.

This session is suitable for public and professionals who want to know more about diabetes and the support on offer through Diabetes UK.

Register now and we will send you a link to join closer to the event.

Sign up to our newsletter to hear about future events or visit our online events page.

How easy is it to give feedback to your GP?

How easy is it to give feedback to your GP?

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In October 2023 we undertook a ‘health check’ of all GP practice websites in Northumberland across seven primary care networks (PCNs). There are 36 practice websites representing 45 individual surgeries. This was to see how easy it was to find information about how to raise a concern or give positive feedback and to see if signposting information for support in raising a concern was up-to-date and factually correct.

Why we did it

Patient feedback is an important part of improving patient experiences and outcomes, enabling the service provider to identify potential problem areas. Having clear processes also gives the opportunity for concerns to be dealt with swiftly to prevent escalation and to avoid undue confrontation with practice reception staff.

In most GP services complaint situations, the appropriate course of action is for a patient to initiate a complaint directly with their GP practice. Patient feedback to Healthwatch Northumberland has shown that many people seem unaware of how to resolve a complaint or concern through their GP surgery and what support options are available to them.

There have been recent changes to advocacy support in Northumberland, with VoiceAbility taking on the NHS Independent Complaints Advocacy Northumberland (ICAN) service, as well as national changes, with Integrated Care Boards(ICBs) now handling NHS primary care complaints – these were previously dealt with by NHS England.

We wanted to explore if these changes had been reflected on GP practice websites. We also wanted to gather evidence of the need for consistent messaging in order to ensure that the process of raising a concern is easy from a user’s point of view, and that signposting information is factually correct, so that patients have a clear understanding of their rights and options.

How we did it

Our staff and volunteers carried out research by visiting each GP practice website to review its complaints information. All of the websites were accessed via desktop computers and, where possible, using smartphones (29 out of the 36 websites) to ensure equal accessibility.

We are aware of other accessibility issues, for example, language barriers, and will carry out further research on this.

What we found

  • Nearly 60% of GP websites were found to be equally accessible from both desktop computer and smartphone.
  • There was a 50:50 split on whether or not information and support for raising a concern was easy to find on the websites – some information was found under different headings on the websites rather than on the main complaints page.
  • Complaints information, support options and signposting information was very muddled. Even where correct support organisation details were given, they weren’t always accompanied by the correct contact details or explanations of how the service could help.
  • In some cases, there were additional steps that needed to be taken when making a complaint online, for example, having to download forms, which could be a barrier to patients making the complaint.
  • There was a lot of variation in information and processes even between practices within the same PCN, for example, within one PCN, two practices have almost identical looking websites, but one practice directs patients to send complaints to NHS England, whereas the other directs them to the ICB.
  • Within another PCN, again, four practices have very similar looking websites, but two of them require the patient to attend the surgery in person to collect a complaint pack, one requires the patient to put a complaint in writing by post and only one practice offers the option of making a complaint online via email.

Read our full findings and recommendations

Have your say on eye care services

Have your say on eye care services

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Have your say on eye care services

We would like to know if you are getting the eye care you need.

Healthy vision is something many of us take for granted – until there is a problem. An estimated 50% of sight loss is avoidable. That is why people need access to regular eye tests and, if there is a problem, get the help they need.

Tell us about your experiences and help improve eye care services for everyone.

Disabled people could be missing out on social care support

Disabled people could be missing out on social care support

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Up to 1.5 million working-age disabled people in England could need social care support but are not accessing it. This means they are likely to be missing out on help with daily activities such as washing, cleaning, socialising, and going to the shops. Healthwatch England polled 1504 working-age disabled adults in England and found one in four, 28%, could be eligible for support under Care Act criteria but have never had a social care needs assessment. You can read about the poll and the results below.

Why people don’t receive social care

The people who took part in the poll had unmet social care needs— they said they are eligible for social care under the Care Act but had never received social care due to multiple factors:

  • They didn’t think they could get any support (65%); 
  • They didn’t know where to go for support (34%); 
  • They were unable to afford to pay for care or contributions (26%); 
  • They found it too difficult to get support from councils or the NHS (14%);
  • Their local service closed (2%).

People who were excluded from the estimate include:  those who are waiting for a social care assessment, have been told they are ineligible for social care support, are supported by unpaid carers, access state benefits, or simply do not want any support. 

Also excluded were those who currently access care, which according to NHS figures is around 300,000 working-age disabled adults receiving publicly funded care and an unknown number of people funding their own care.

When people receive social care, they report positive experiences

Out of 20% of respondents who said they currently receive social care, over three quarters, 78%, agreed that the care they receive helps them live the life they want, compared to only nine per cent who disagreed with the statement. 

Two-thirds (62%) of the respondents who receive social care said it helps them stay healthy, while over half, 51%, said it helps them do the activities they enjoy. 

Just under half, 47%, said that their care enables them to keep themselves and their home clean, and the same number said it supports them to eat and drink properly. Just over one in five, 22%, of people said that their care supports them in working, studying, or volunteering.  

Eligibility issue

Under the Care Act, people may be eligible for social care support if their needs arise from a physical impairment or illness that negatively affects their ability to perform tasks quickly, independently, and safely, while also affecting their wellbeing. 

However, the research shows the extent to which eligibility might apply to more disabled people will remain unknown until people can easily interact with social care services or access assessments.

Annanya’s story: I struggle with routine household tasks

Annanya, 21, is a part-time student and ambulance call centre worker from Liverpool. She has several health conditions, including mental health problems, dyslexia, ADHD, suspected autism and diabetes. Together, these conditions make it difficult for Annanya to maintain her home and to run chores, and she needs support with daily tasks.

Annanya reached out to her local social care provider for support. However, the council told her that her needs were a medical issue.

“They kept me on a waiting list for six months just to get an assessment, then they called me to say they can’t help me”, she explained. “The assessment was also done remotely – nobody visited me at home. I live alone and struggle with household tasks and planning. Having some extra support could really help me manage these challenging aspects of my life”.

Louise Ansari, Chief Executive at Healthwatch England, said: 

“Social care can be transformative and change people’s lives. Our research highlights a really positive message, that for so many people care has helped them live independently, leading the lives they want to live, how they want to live them.

“Yet, social care in England is under financial strain, facing a workforce crisis, and requires major reform.  Our findings clarify those challenges, showing that the hidden demand for support could be as high as 1.5 million working-age adults in England. Not all these people will be eligible for publicly funded care, but far too many clearly live with some form of unmet need and don’t know where to turn for support. 

“We need to make sure there is more support for disabled people, and that this support is easy to understand and to access. Not only will this help people with their emotional and physical needs, but it will also help people who have told us they’d like more support to get into work, and it will contribute to taking pressure off NHS services.” 

We need to make sure there is more support for disabled people, and that this support is easy to understand and to access.

Call for reform

Healthwatch is calling for a fully funded and long-term reform plan for social care that will address workforce issues, offer more support for unpaid carers, and a focus on early prevention.

As part of the reform plan, Healthwatch England has set out three recommendations:

  • The Government should fund local authorities to raise public awareness of social care and find potentially eligible individuals through proactive outreach to disabled people.
  • Government should also dedicate funding to boost capacity and support councils in addressing existing care assessments and care package backlogs. 
  • There needs to be greater investment to ensure all disabled people accessing social care assessments are offered a Care Act advocate who can help them understand the assessment process and their rights.

Read the report in full

Tell us your experiences of accessing social care support at home

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

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Between January and June 2024, we received feedback from 417 individuals from talking to people at face-to-face events, telephone calls, emails, our website, social media and other sources. This is approximately the same as the previous six months (we heard from 422 individuals between July and December 2023). Between January and June 2024, we signposted 65 people to different organisations for further support. This is up slightly from 59 during the previous six months. Our social media content had a reach of 110,000 and almost 7000 engagements, and our website had 23,000 views, compared to a social media reach of 77,000, over 7,000 engagements and 16,000 website views between July and December 2023.

The feedback we have had for the past six months has mainly been around three service areas:

GP services

29% of all feedback received in January to June 2024 was to do with GP services (roughly the same proportion as July to December 2023). The main issues we received feedback on were difficulty getting an appointment and poor service. However, approximately one in four comments we received about GP services were positive which is an increase on the previous six months (one in five comments were positive between July and December 2023).

Hospitals
25% of all feedback received during the six months was about hospital services. The biggest concerns were around the distance to travel and lengthy waiting lists. There were also concerns raised about poor communication and poor quality of care when people got to hospital. However, just under one in three of the comments we received about hospitals were positive.

Dentists

Dentists were mentioned in 7% of all the comments we received. The vast majority of feedback was to do with the difficulties getting an NHS appointment. About 10% of respondents who fed back about dentists reported that the dentists they had spoken to were only accepting private patients. Approximately one in ten of the comments we received about dentists were positive.

These three categories made up almost two thirds (just over 61%) of the feedback we received in January to June 2024. This is up from the previous six months when these categories amounted to less than half of the feedback received (48% in July to December 2023).

Over a quarter of the feedback for GP services was about three particular GP practices. We will contact these practices individually to discuss the themes that have been raised in the feedback.

Signposting/requests for information

16% of the contacts we received in January to June 2024 were requests for information or signposting support. The top three areas were:

  • Adult social care – enquiries were mainly about getting care in the home and care assessments
  • Cost of living support – this included requests for information around benefits advice
  • COVID-19 vaccinations – enquiries were around eligibility and vaccination sites

Read more in feedback trends for January to June 2024 report.

 

Getting the most from your surgery

Getting the most from your surgery

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GP surgeries have changed the way they work to meet patient needs and increased demand. There is now a wider range of medical staff at surgeries and different ways to get help such as telephone, video, and online consultations, as well as face-to-face appointments.

Access to GP services is an issue we hear about regularly at Healthwatch Northumberland. In our ‘getting the most from your GP surgery’ booklet we explain more about the range of staff roles at surgeries, different ways to access healthcare and how to make the most of your GP appointment.

Why do I have to tell the receptionist so much about my concern?

Reception staff need to ask enough questions to make sure you get the best appointment with the right person. This may not always be your GP, as there are specialist services that may be more appropriate for your needs, for example, a dietician for
concerns around food allergies or intolerances.

Who might I see at the GP surgery?

Your GP surgery will employ some or all of the healthcare professionals listed below.

Advanced Practitioners: include nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians or podiatrists. They can help with a variety of health conditions and can prescribe medication and make referrals to other specialist services.

Clinical Pharmacists: can carry out medication reviews, particularly for long-term and chronic health conditions. Some can also prescribe medication and manage prescriptions.

Care Coordinators: ensure patients have more joined-up care and that their care needs are met, particularly for those who are frail and/or elderly, and people with long-term health conditions

Dieticians: diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems, give advice on food and nutrition, and offer support with diabetes, digestive issues, food allergies and intolerances and weight loss/gain.

General Practice Nurses: can do many of the same tasks as GPs. They assess and treat people of all ages, provide wound care, screenings and blood tests, as well as vaccinations. They also offer advice on contraception, women and men’s health issues, weight loss and stopping smoking.

Health and Wellness Coaches: find solutions or lifestyle changes to enable people to lead happier lives. They help people to form a personalised health and care plan to achieve their goals.

Mental Health Practitioners: support people with severe mental health illness to live well in their communities. They can work with patients whose mental health needs cannot be met through, for example, talking therapies, but who may not need care from more specialist services such as psychiatric care. They can often help children and young people as well as adults and can help make referrals to suitable services for support.

Occupational Therapists: work with ill, disabled or injured patients,including those who have returned home following a hospital stay. They help with adaptations to people’s homes so they can continue to live independently.

Physician Associates: work alongside GPs. They cannot prescribe medication but can prepare prescriptions for GPs to sign and can diagnose, order tests and make referrals.

Physiotherapists: work with patients who have joint or muscle problems including those recovering from serious injuries or illness and those with new injuries. They can book scans and tests and are trained to recognise when a joint or muscle problem may be a sign of something more serious. Patients can often make an appointment with a physiotherapist directly themselves (self-refer) or can be referred by a GP or other healthcare professional.

Paramedics: can provide a rapid response to patients with long-term conditions, minor injuries and minor illness. They can supply a range of medicines and support patients who require wound care, have fallen, or have musculoskeletal problems, and can treat some types of infections.

Podiatrists: can diagnose and treat foot and lower leg conditions and provide foot care for short-term or long-term conditions.

Social Prescribing Link Workers: help address the non-medical issues that may be affecting your health and wellbeing. They can connect you to local services and community groups for practical or emotional support.

 

Find out more by viewing our ‘getting the most from your GP surgery’ booklet or download as a pdf.

 

Tell us your experiences of making appointments and visiting your GP surgery.