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Berwick Veterans’ Warm Hub

Berwick Veterans’ Warm Hub

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The Veterans’ Warm Hub meets on the last Wednesday of every month at the Berwick Voluntary Centre. This free session is open to ex-British Forces to enjoy a warm drink in a relaxed atmosphere and meet other veterans. The Warm Hub can also signpost to other organisations for support and there is free WIFI access available.

The Veterans’ Warm Hub meets on the last Wednesday of the month, with the next one on Wednesday 31 January 2024,10am-12pm at the Berwick Voluntary Centre, Tweed Street. To find out more contact North Northumberland Voluntary Forum by email: bvforum@hotmail.co.uk or call: 01289 304 141.

Vision Northumberland drop-in event

Vision Northumberland drop-in event

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Cafe @ Burn Lane, Hexham

Wednesday 31 January 2024 10am – 12pm

  • Do you need the TV volume turned up high?
  • Can you no longer read your favourite book?
  • Are you missing parts of conversations?
  • Unable to read labels when you go shopping?

Call in to meet the Vision Northumberland team at this free drop-in, and and see how they can assist you with your vision and hearing loss. Find out more about the equipment, support and activities on offer to people living in Northumberland. For more details call Vision Northumberland on 01670 514316.

Online event – British Liver Trust

Online event – British Liver Trust

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Online event – British Liver Trust

Join us for our next free lunchtime event where we will hear from Louise Parker from the British Liver Trust.

Louise will talk to us about the UK liver disease crisis and why we need to raise awareness. She will also talk about the three preventable risk factors, tips on how to ‘Love your Liver’ and information about the free support available for anyone affected by a liver condition.

This event has now passed

Sign up to our newsletter to hear about future events.

December 2023 feedback

December 2023 feedback

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Health and social care feedback Northumberland December 2023

This month we received an equal number of positive and negative comments about the quality of GP services. Where people had a less happy experience, this was mainly difficulty getting an appointment or about poor service. People are still finding it very difficult to get an appointment with an NHS dentist, including having to travel outside of the area.

What did we get up to?

We attended our usual Here to Hear drop-in sessions and also a one-off session at Cramlington Hub. As part of our work on health visiting services, we went to Wentworth Leisure Centre to speak to parents and carers about their experiences. We also attended Northumberland County Council’s Family Hubs sessions in Alnwick, Blyth, Berwick and Hadston as part of this work.

The online session in December was from the NECA team who spoke about gambling awareness and support in the region.

Our new cost of living information booklet was distributed to organisations, venues and groups across the county. The booklet is a free resource which we have produced as part of our Signposting and Information Service.

Find out more in our December 2023 feedback report.

We’re recruiting for board members!

We’re recruiting for board members!

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We’re looking for board members to help steer the direction of our work. We need people from all of our communities and with different skills and experiences to join our board.

Are you:

  • Aware of current health and social care issues, particularly for people with mental ill health, learning disabilities or people who aren’t being listened to?
  • Good at communicating and listening to people from a wide range of backgrounds and with different experiences?
  • Able to use evidence from service users and research to make impartial, practical judgements?
  • Experienced in setting goals and able to monitor how Healthwatch Northumberland achieves its goals?
  • Experienced in working effectively in a collective decision-making group, board or committee?
  • Committed to working in an impartial and independent way to achieve improvements in health and social care services for service users, carers and the public?

Not everyone will have all the knowledge or experiences listed here, so the board operates as a team, blending together what individuals bring.

Board member positions are voluntary and unpaid and reasonable travel expenses are paid. The board meets four times a year.

Would you like to know more? Read our board member information pack.

How do I apply and what happens then?

Please complete the using the Person Specification to tell us about you and why you want to join us. We will use this to decide who to offer an interview.

All applications must be received by 9am on 7 February 2024.

Please note that we may close submissions earlier than this date if we receive a large number of applications.

If a written application is not appropriate for you, an interview-only assessment may be carried out. Please contact Derry Nugent at derryn@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk

Invitations to interview will be emailed to shortlisted candidates. The interviews will be held during February/March 2024.

Board member information pack

Board member information pack easy read

This vacancy is now closed.

Online event – Time to talk about cancer

Online event – Time to talk about cancer

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Friday 16 February 2024, 1pm – 2pm

Join us to hear from Maggie Bailey from Coping with Cancer North East who will talk about some of the myths around cancer.

She will also provide information on the care and support available in Northumberland through Coping with Cancer and other services.

There will be a chance to ask questions after the presentation.

This session is suitable for anyone who would like to know more about cancer and the support available, both professionals and members of the public.

This event has now passed.

Sign up to our newsletter to hear about future events.

Healthwatch England on the NHS strikes

Healthwatch England on the NHS strikes

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Government and unions urged to find resolution to strike action

Healthwatch England response – 20 December 2023

Five organisations representing NHS leaders and patients have jointly written to the Chair of the Council of the British Medical Association (BMA) and to the Secretary of State of the Department of Health and Social Care stating concerns about the on-going industrial action within the NHS.

The organisations, including Healthwatch England, Age UK, NHS Confederation, National Voices and The Patients Association, are seriously concerned about plans for industrial action set to take place between 20 and 23 December, and for a further six days in early January 7am on 3 January to 7am on 9 January 2024.

Collectively the organisations are calling on both Government and the BMA to get back to the negotiating table, believing that further strikes would be a major blow for the service already grappling with record waiting lists, winter pressures and the financial fall out of previous industrial action.

In the first week of December there were already 13,000 patients – many older people – waiting to be discharged. Strike action in the run up to Christmas could see these numbers increase, leaving patients stranded in hospital over the holiday period despite being medically fit for discharge.

Over the course of 2023 we have seen more than 1.2 million operations and appointments cancelled and £1.4 billion spent by NHS organisations, including on additional staff costs, as they have sought to keep essential services running.

Meanwhile, waiting lists have increased by 510,000 from 7.2 million in January to 7.71 million in October 2023. These lists have already impacted on the health of patients, families and carers while they wait for essential treatment or struggle to access the on-going support, they need to manage health conditions. And, it is most disadvantaged communities and vulnerable patients who pay the highest price for disruption and delays.

Despite the best efforts of hard-working NHS staff, the organisations are concerned that it will be extremely difficult to ensure safe and effective care during this period for all patients that need it. Winter pressures, staff absence and high levels of patient demand, mean the first weeks of January are typically one of the busiest times, particularly for urgent and emergency care services.

Nine months have now elapsed since the BMA Junior Doctor’s Committee first embarked on industrial action in March 2023. The timing, duration and fact that – as yet – no national derogations have been agreed is cause for alarm.

It is now imperative that both Government and the BMA find a resolution and bring an end to their dispute.

It is not too late to restart talks and avert further disruption.

Louise Ansari, Chief Executive of Healthwatch England said “The forthcoming strikes will be concerning for patients already facing long waits for care, especially now we are in winter when demand will be higher. We know that waits affect some worse than others. If you are a woman, on a low income, from an ethnic minority background or have a disability, you are more likely to have a worse experience of waiting for care.”

“It essential that both parties find a way forward to prevent the confidence of patients being undermined when it comes to being able to access care. It also vital that lifesaving care is not affected and that the NHS gets its communications right to ensure that patients know if services will be affected.”

Downloads

Joint letter to the British Medical Association
Download (PDF 777 KB)
Joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
What you told us: November 2023

What you told us: November 2023

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Health and social care feedback Northumberland November 2023

  • In November the main things you told us about were:
    GP services: Difficulty getting an appointment was again the top concern raised this month, although approximately a fifth of the feedback we received praised the quality of care from GP practices.
  • Dentists: Difficulty getting an appointment featured strongly again this month.
  • Hospitals (outpatients’ appointments): Long waiting times and the distance needing to travel to get to appointments were raised. There was also a fair proportion of positive comments around the quality of care received.
What did we get up to?

This month we were at a number of one-off events including Seghill Food Hub, Ponteland and Blyth Winter Warmer events, Prudhoe wellbeing event, Haltwhistle diabetes awareness event and the Forget-me-nots Christmas drop-in.

We also held an IT special event in Blyth with staff from Marine Medical Group to show patients how to use eConsult, help them register for GP online services and download the NHS app.

The online talk this month was from Stroke Association and it was well received by the members of the public and health professionals who attended.

We also started on a joint project with all the local Healthwatch in the North East and North Cumbria reviewing the state of NHS dentistry in the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board area.

Find out more in our November 2023 feedback report

Harbottle GP clinic proposal

Harbottle GP clinic proposal

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Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has written to all patients of The Rothbury Practice with the following information.

If you need the following information in an alternative format, please email nencicb-nor.rothburypractice@nhs.net.

A GP or nurse from The Rothbury Practice, which is part of Northumbria Primary Care, currently provides a clinic, once a week on a Thursday, in the village hall in Harbottle.

This clinic has been in place since 2009. In 2015 the previous provider (GP) decided to end their GP contract and the GP service in Harbottle faced closure. Following the community response, clinicians from The Rothbury Practice have provided GP patient care in the village.

Northumbria Primary Care is working with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to consider how we can potentially enhance healthcare services in rural Northumberland. We need to ensure that what we do is sustainable, both financially and in terms of workforce.

What is being proposed

The proposal being considered is moving the GP/nurse clinic, that is currently provided from Harbottle Village Hall, into a mobile healthcare unit. The mobile healthcare unit would be the permanent location from which the Harbottle weekly GP/nurse clinic would be delivered.

We would like to assure people that this proposal would not result in a reduction to current primary care services provided in Harbottle.

Patient benefits

The additional benefit of services being delivered from a mobile unit is that it would be able to travel and deliver primary (GP), public health and community/voluntary sector services in this rural area of Northumberland on the days that it is not in Harbottle. Examples of the services that could be delivered in local communities include vaccination clinics, annual health checks, blood pressure checks, public health services (like stop smoking clinics) and voluntary and community sector engagement and services.

With the unit being mobile, where possible, it could be responsive to the healthcare needs of local communities, as long as the workforce is available to support this.

We are also in the very early stages of exploring if the community team at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust could use the mobile healthcare unit to potentially offer appropriate services closer to home.

The cost of operating a mobile healthcare unit would be similar to providing GP services from the village hall in Harbottle. As a result, this option would be financially sustainable with the potential to offer additional services to local communities in Northumberland.

Details about the mobile healthcare unit

 The mobile healthcare unit would be a clinical environment, comfortable, heated and wheelchair accessible. It would also have separate waiting and consulting rooms to enable patient privacy. Where the mobile healthcare unit would park in Harbottle and where people would access a toilet are things that are currently under discussion. It would be driven by staff who have a valid UK driving licence and training. We acknowledge that the winter weather in Northumberland is also an important consideration. Planning and regular maintenance would help ensure, as much as possible, that the vehicle would be where it needs to be.

Getting feedback is crucial to help inform and shape this proposal

We would like as many patients, members of the public and stakeholders as possible to help inform if a mobile healthcare unit could be a viable option and if so, how it could be used to deliver GP, public health and community/voluntary services. This proposal is in the early stages of being developed and we know that we must ensure that the use of a mobile unit could be sustainably managed and that there is a community need for what it could be used for.

You can tell us your views in a few different ways – we welcome feedback from all

Patients registered with The Rothbury Practice (regardless of which surgery they access care from) will receive either a hard copy of or text message with a website link to a letter, survey, and a frequently asked questions (FAQs) document.

  • You can complete this online survey
  • You can complete a hard copy survey – these will be available from and will need to be dropped off at the weekly Harbottle clinic on a Thursday morning or The Rothbury Practice or Longframlington surgery receptions.

All surveys need to be completed by Friday 23 February 2024.

  • If you have a planned appointment at the clinic in Harbottle on Thursday 14 December or Thursday 1 February 2024, you will be able to speak to someone if you would like to give feedback.
  • If you have a planned appointment at The Rothbury Practice on Tuesday 19 December or Thursday 18 January 2024 between 10.00am and 2.00pm you will be able to speak to someone if you would like to give feedback.
  • You can attend a drop-in engagement session for patients and stakeholders – they will be held on Tuesday 9 January 2024 between 10.00am and 2.00pm and Tuesday 13 February between 3.00pm and 7.00pm at Harbottle Village Hall, Harbottle, NE65 7DG. You do not need to register to attend. All are welcome to attend.
  • You can also write to or email the practice management team – The Rothbury Practice, Whitton Bank Road, Rothbury, Northumberland, NE65 7RW or encicb-nor.rothburypractice@nhs.net.
  • If you would like to give feedback to someone independent, please contact Healthwatch Northumberland.

Next steps and time-line

This option has been approved in principle by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, subject to engagement with the community and stakeholders. Following the programme of engagement with patients and a wide range of stakeholders, all feedback will be considered, and a final decision will be made, hopefully in March next year. The earliest a mobile healthcare unit could be put in place is May 2024.

Mobile healthcare unit FAQs

Cost of living support

Cost of living support

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Cost of living support in Northumberland

The cost of living can put a real strain on people’s finances and also their health and wellbeing. We have put together details of organisations which can offer support with energy costs, prescription and healthcare appointment costs, food, and mental health.

Download the cost of living booklet or

Visit our cost of living support webpage

If you can’t find the information you need or would like a copy posted to you, please get in touch.

If you would like some leaflets for a community setting or group near you, please let us know and we will post them out to you.

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