The rising cost of living is having an effect on households and organisations across the country. With energy bills rising, it can be difficult to afford household bills, food and other living expenses.
VONNE – Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East – has put together a list of useful resources and information to explain more about the rising cost of living with tips on how to reduce your bills and stay safe this winter.
Join us on Friday 11 November to hear from Andrew Poinen, Engagement Lead for Kooth and Qwell.
In this free, online public event Andrew will provide an overview of Qwell, the online service available for adults aged 18 and over in Northumberland which provides free, safe and anonymous mental health and wellbeing support.
We will hear what it involves, how to access it and there will be a chance to ask questions.
Register now and we will send you a link to join closer to the event:
This event has now passed
Have you been referred by your GP practice to a specialist for tests, diagnosis or treatment? Or have you expected or requested a referral but didn’t get one? We’d like to hear about your experiences to help the NHS understand what is working and what could be better.
The survey will only take a few minutes of your time and any information you share will be anonymised.
It’s when a GP or other medical professional at a GP practice sends you to a specialist at a hospital or community clinic for further tests, diagnosis or treatment. Your GP could make a referral for many reasons, such as a hip replacement, MRI scan, physio, mental health services, endoscopy and more. A referral can happen during a phone or face-to-face appointment.
Join us on Friday 14 October, 1pm-2pm, to hear a presentation from Janet Boyd, a volunteer from the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
In this free, online public event Janet will provide an overview of osteoporosis, including signs and symptoms, risk factors, effects of osteoporosis and how to maintain good bone health.
We will also hear about local and national Royal Osteoporosis Society services, including support for people with osteoporosis and their carers, how to access advice and information and opportunities for volunteering. There will be a chance to ask questions.
Register now and we will send you a link to join closer to the event:
Have you or your loved one struggled to get a GP referral for tests or treatment?
Healthwatch England has been hearing from the public about how hard it can be to get a GP practice referral to another NHS service, and they would like to hear about your experiences.
GPs are the first point of call for many health issues and the gateway to specialist support. But with many GP surgeries stretched thin and under pressure, NHS decision-makers need to understand if people are finding it difficult to get the right help.
Examples of services your GP can refer you to include:
GP referrals affect people of every age group, every background, and every region across the country. Some of the things patients have said include:
As the independent champion of health and social care services, we want to hear your experiences of trying to get specialist NHS support, like physiotherapy, talking therapies, hospital scans and consultations.
By sharing your story, we can use your feedback to help the NHS better understand your challenges and improve how people access the care they need.
Find out more about GP referrals
This piece of work has now ended.
Thank you to everyone who came along to our online event with Nick Powell from Asthma+Lung UK on Friday 12 August.
Nick gave a presentation about the work of Asthma+Lung UK and the support available both nationally and locally for people living with asthma, COPD, mesothelioma and other lung conditions. There was also a chance to ask questions at the end.
If you didn’t get the chance to join the session you can watch the recording of the presentation below.
Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about upcoming events.
Northumberland’s Children’s Centres will relaunch as Family Hubs in Autumn 2022 and residents are being asked for their views to help shape the plans.
The Children’s Centres currently provide a wide range of support services for children aged 0-5 and their families. As Family Hubs, this support will be rolled out to all young people extending the age range to 0-19 and to 25 for anyone with additional needs.
The Hubs will be in the heart of their communities, with midwives, health visitors, early years and mental health professionals, youth workers, and a host of other services – including relationship, parenting, and financial advice – brought together into a one-stop-shop that meets the needs of family life for young people of all ages.
Family Hubs will build on lessons learned during the pandemic and will offer online and virtual services too, so that support can be accessible in the right way, and the right place, at the right time.
Please join us for our next online care home forum on Friday 30 September, 11.30am – 12.30pm (not 19 September as previously advertised).
At our previous forums we have heard how visiting restrictions in care homes have affected people living there and their relatives, heard more recent experiences of visiting including as an ‘essential care giver’ and discussed ‘the things we wished we had known before our loved one moved into a care home’ to produce guidance to help others.
At our next forum we would like to hear your current experiences of visiting your loved ones and about how visits to the care home from professionals such as dentists, chiropodists and opticians are working.
We will also be starting to visit care homes to understand from a lay perspective how they are doing after the pandemic. Through talking to residents and carers we can get an insight into different aspects of the home, for example meals or activities and would like your advice to help shape this project.
To register for a space or to give feedback outside of the forum please email: info@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk or call us on 03332 408468.
Hearing feedback from relatives of those in care homes, we know that the process of moving into a care home can be a very isolating and upsetting time. There are many different emotional and practical aspects to consider.
Sometimes decisions and choices have to be made very quickly. Even when there is more time to plan, there can be smaller, unexpected issues that arise and make you think ‘I wish I had known this before my loved one went to live in a care home’.
This list was put together by people who attended our care homes forums in 2021 and 2022. It is a simple list of things to think about and comes from their experiences of having a loved one living in a care home.
There will be other things which we have not thought of and if you have more ideas and tips, please let us know and we will add them in.
If you’d like to speak to us about your experiences of care homes, care home visiting, information about care homes in Northumberland, or would like to know more about our forums, please get in touch.
Healthwatch England has published new findings, which show services are failing in their legal duty to provide accessible information for people with physical and learning disabilities.
As part of the Your Care, Your Way campaign, between March and May 2022, an online survey was carried out which heard from 605 people affected by communications challenges.
One in four respondents (28%) – including deaf, blind and people with learning disabilities – said they had been refused help when requesting support to understand information about their healthcare. This included information being provided in formats such as Braille, British Sign Language and Easy Read.
Not being given information in the right format affected people’s mental health and wellbeing (38%), meant they missed out on important information about their health (29%) or meant that they could not contact a service they needed (27%).
Respondents also reported that the quality of communication from NHS and social care services had worsened over the last two years. Two-thirds (67%) felt that the way health and care services communicate with them had gotten worse or slightly worse over the course of the pandemic.
It is not just people with sensory impairments or learning disabilities who are affected by this issue.
A fifth (22%) of those who reached out to Healthwatch to share their experiences identified themselves as having a mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety.
Of these people, 35% reported they rarely or never get the support they need to understand healthcare information or communicate with staff. The majority of them (70%) also said that the lack of information in a format they could understand further impacted their mental health and wellbeing.
The findings come as NHS England (NHSE) is conducting a review of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS). The Government created this legal requirement in 2016 to ensure all publicly funded health and social care providers meet the information and communication needs of people who are deaf, blind or have a learning disability. Publication of this review is expected later in the year, with updates to be implemented by April 2023.
Earlier this year, Healthwatch England uncovered that many health and social care providers significantly failed their duty to ask about people’s communication needs and then act on this information.
They joined forces with leading disability organisations, including RNIB, RNID, Mencap and SignHealth, to inform the long-awaited review of the AIS. The coalition called on NHSE to take on board their recommendations, including stronger accountability across services to protect people’s rights to accessible information.
Louise Ansari, national director at Healthwatch England said:
“Our findings are a stark reminder that some of the most vulnerable people in our society are still excluded from access to healthcare because they communicate in British Sign Language or they need information in visual formats. And this is despite the fact that their rights to accessible information are protected in law.
“People’s right to accessible information should be based on their communication needs, not just on a diagnosed disability. For instance, people who have a mental health condition or are waiting for a diagnosis should have a right to request communication support in the same way as people who have a sensory loss or a learning disability.
“If people cannot get information about their healthcare they understand, this can have a significant impact on their mental health and can lead to them missing doctor’s appointments or taking the wrong medication, putting them in danger.
“As we are waiting for the review of the Accessible Information Standard, we strongly advise that NHSE and the newly created 42 integrated care systems ensure equitable access to healthcare for everyone.”
Find out more about the results of the accessible information survey
If you would like to tell us about your experience of accessing health and social care services in the last 12 months please get in touch.
We are your local health and social care champion. We’re here to make sure your views on NHS and social care services in Northumberland are heard.
