Delivering in Tynedale!

Delivering in Tynedale!

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You’re invited to our Annual Event 2025 in Hexham

Where: Tynedale Function Suite, Tyne Green, Hexham NE46 3SG (at the Auction Mart)

When: Friday 12 September 2025

Time: 4pm – 6pm (refreshments from 3.30pm)

Join us to hear from MP Joe Morris about changes to NHS services and what they mean for our region. Plus, we’ll hear about direct payments from the team at the council, and how to get the most from the NHS Pharmacy First Service.

We will also give a review of our year as local health and social care champion.

The event is for anyone who lives or works in West Northumberland and would like to know more about health and social care services.

Book your free place 

Free event – Prostate Cancer UK

Free event – Prostate Cancer UK

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Find out more about prostate cancer at our free online event on Friday 11 July, 1pm-2pm, with Gil and Cathie, volunteers with Prostate Cancer UK.

The talk will cover risks, possible signs and symptoms, diagnosis and some treatment pathways.

We will also learn about support available from the charity if you are concerned, newly diagnosed or you or a family member or friend is living with prostate cancer. You will hear Gil and Cathie’s own personal experiences.

Please note the session is not intended to provide medical advice.

This talk is suitable for professionals or members of the public wishing to know more about prostate cancer. There will be an opportunity to ask questions after the talk.

This event has now passed.

Sign up to our newsletter to hear about future events or catch up with previous events on our online events page.

Annual Report 2024-25

Annual Report 2024-25

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Unlocking the power of people-driven care

Healthwatch Northumberland Annual Report 2024-25

This year people came to us over 10,000 times for clear information on topics such as mental health services and the cost of living support through our website, at our in-person events or by telephone or email.

We published 22 reports about the improvements people would like to see in areas like health visiting, women’s health and care homes. Our most popular report was on health visiting services which looked at people’s awareness of how to access the service and what it offers, whether they were routinely accessing the service, as well as how happy people were with the support provided.

How we’ve made a difference this year

  • To ensure we were hearing from all parts of the county, we attended events across rural Northumberland, and were regular visitors to Hexham Livestock Auction Mart
  • We presented our work on autistic children and young people’s experiences of mental health support to Healthwatch England, ensuring your feedback was heard at national level and used to influence change
  • To help people get the most out of their GP appointment, we produced a handy guide with useful tips, explanations of staff roles at GP surgeries, and different ways to access healthcare
  • Our popular ‘cost of living support for people in Northumberland’ booklet was translated into six other languages, so it could be of use to more communities across the county
  • As well as supporting mental health events organised by the council, we put together a printed guide to the mental health services and support available to local people
  • We worked with Northumberland County Council to gather experiences and help shape the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment
  • We asked people with Parkinson’s to have their say on the NHS 10-Year Plan. The group welcomed the idea of Community Diagnostic Centres but said that an accessible roving van service might be better for those in rural areas
  • Our monthly online information sessions continued to be popular with local people. This year we heard about issues including domestic abuse, kidney care, macular degeneration and substance misuse

Working together for change

We’ve worked with neighbouring Healthwatch to ensure people’s experiences of care in Northumberland are heard at the Integrated Care System level, and they influence decisions made about services in the North East and North Cumbria.

This work includes listening to people’s dental care challenges. The Integrated Care Board’s new action plan includes stabilising services, additional investment for out-of-hours treatment, the establishment of Urgent Dental Access Centres and working with partners to improve recruitment, retention, and training of staff. We continue to work closely with the Integrated Care Board as new ways of working are developed.

We worked with North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and Local Healthwatch to understand people’s experiences and expectations of its services including ambulances and paramedics, patient transport, 999 call handling and NHS 111.As well as a region-wide survey, we gathered more in-depth feedback from individuals and groups in Northumberland about experiences and expectations of services and how they could improve. This feedback was welcomed by NEAS and will inform its clinical strategy.

Making a difference in the community

We bring people’s experiences to health and social care professionals and decision-makers, using their feedback to shape services and improve care over time.

Now in its second year, the Adult Social Care People’s Panel is going strong and shows that service providers and service users working together can make a big difference. Panel members advised about improvements needed to public information about adult social care on the council’s website, making it easier for the public to find this vital information.  They also attended training for social care staff to give their experience of using services and especially on how Carer’s Assessments are carried out. This directly acted as a sounding board for Northumberland County Council’s Adult Social Care function as it prepared for its Care Quality Commission inspection
We like to think this helped achieve the ‘Good’ overall rating!

Listening to your experiences

As part of our Enter and View programme we have visited care homes in Northumberland owned and run by HC-One, allowing us to see, hear and feel what life is like for people who live there. Our recommendations after the visits  offered in the reports led to improvements to areas such as care home activities, interior décor, improvements to meals and more information provision, which demonstrates the impact our Enter and View activity can have and the change it can effect.

Following increased concerns from people in Northumberland about audiology (hearing) services we did some work to understand more about the key issues including what was working well, what was not working so well, and what could be improved. An action plan in line with our recommendations is now being implemented, which includes improved communication with patients about services and the support available, mapping exercises to improve on current clinic locations and review of patient pathways to access support and more proactive follow-on care.

Hearing from all communities

We’re here for all residents of Northumberland. That’s why, over the past year, we’ve worked hard to reach out to those communities whose voices may go unheard.
Every member of the community should have the chance to share their story and play a part in shaping services to meet their needs.

Hearing from the farming community: Over the past year we have attended Hexham Auction Mart monthly to engage with farmers and their families as part of the Supporting Our Farming Communities initiative. This is a joint piece of work led by The Church and Community Partnership (Tynedale) and in partnership with Andy’s Man Club, Papyrus Suicide Prevention and Northumberland County Council.

Here to Hear: We continue to get out across the county to different venues and groups to hear people’s experiences of health and care services and offering our Information and Signposting Service. We regularly review which venues and areas we go to, ensuring that we can hear from more people. This includes areas or groups we may not hear from as much or who might experience poorer health outcomes or find it harder to access services.

Information and signposting

Whether it’s finding a local GP surgery, making a complaint, or choosing a good care home for a loved one – you can count on us. People have reached out to us this year for advice, support or help finding services. We’ve helped people by:​

  • Providing up-to-date information people can trust
  • Helping people access the services they need
  • Supporting people to look after their health
  • Signposting people to additional support services

Showcasing volunteer impact

Our fantastic volunteers have given 491 hours to support our work. Thanks to their dedication to improving care, we can better understand what is working and what needs improving in our community. This year our volunteers:​

  • Visited communities to promote our work
  • Collected experiences and supported their communities to share their views
  • Carried out Enter and View visits to local care homes to help them improve

Next steps
We will keep working across the county, reaching out especially to people less listened to, for example, people whose work or lives means they face difficulties in using health and care services.
Thank you to everyone who responded to our Annual Survey and the suggestions for what we should work on next year. It has helped us decide the things we’re going to work on which are:

1. GP access – we will focus on the impact of digital services
2. Dentistry
3. Adult social care – we will focus on hospital discharge and respite care

We will remain responsive to emerging issues that people raise with us throughout the year.

 

View the Healthwatch Northumberland Annual Report 2024-25 or download a pdf version.

Healthcare on a low income

Healthcare on a low income

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Healthwatch England’s latest research shows that people on lower incomes find it harder to access NHS services than people who are financially more comfortable.

In 2023, it reported that people were increasingly avoiding NHS appointments and prescriptions due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Two years on, rising costs, poor service availability, and a lack of support are still common themes in the experiences people share with Healthwatch across the country.

While the NHS is free at the point of delivery, people’s income and where they live can affect their care experience. Research by the King’s Fund in 2024 found people living in poverty had worse care than those with higher incomes.

Several factors contributed to this, including the cost of technology to access services online, like smartphones and broadband internet, and the costs of travelling to get care, like bus fares and parking expenses.

Healthwatch England looked at seven areas that affect those on low incomes. These are:

Living on a low income shouldn’t be a barrier to healthcare access. Find out what better support for people on low incomes could look like.

Read Healthwatch England’s recommendations for making care more accessible for people on low incomes.

If you are looking for support with the cost of living visit our website.

Your feedback May 2025

Your feedback May 2025

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Your NHS and social care feedback for May 2025

Top issues

You told us that long distances to travel to audiology and radiology appointments in hospitals were an issue. There was also feedback around difficulty getting a face-to-face GP appointment and issues with the online booking systems. Half of the feedback about GP services praised the good service patients received by staff.

This month’s focus

We took our Here to Hear drop-ins to place in Ashington, Hexham, Bedlington, Hadston, and Morpeth, plus we were at the Bell View wellbeing event in Belford.
We completed an Enter and View visit to Hartford Court Care Home, and held focus groups in Hexham and Alnwick on audiology services.
Our online session from Parkinson’s UK had 18 attendees who really enjoyed the talk.
The Persistent Physical Symptoms project has been re-establishing contact with groups in Ashington, Blyth, and Newbiggin-by-the-sea to recruit research participants.
We asked for experiences of applying for or renewing a Blue Badge and heard that the process is lengthy and slow.

Positive feedback example

A person told us that they are happy with the care they received at their GP surgery, with a sensible booking process, being guided to ring on a Monday for non-urgent medical appointments available that week (although they did say that patients do have to ring early).

Having not needed to see a GP in over ten years, the person said they were pleased to be offered full blood testing, finding it reassuring that they were taken seriously. They were also pleased to be offered a wellness check for added reassurance.

Castle Morpeth resident

Negative feedback example

“This was a Blue Badge renewal but I had to give all the information again including ID, doctor’s original letters of my conditions etc. – why?? As it was a renewal I was expecting a simple form i.e. giving any changes to my conditions.

It’s a very long-winded procedure, photocopying everything a second time. I sent it well in advance but they came back with more questions last month. I had thought I’d been turned down and was getting anxious but I’ve just heard they will renew it. I know they advised of a large number of applications and a backlog but surely renewals should be much easier for all concerned.”

Ashington and Blyth resident

Impact

Our team produced a simplified version of a Volunteer Agreement handbook for Thriving Together, to be shared with users of the new volunteering management system including Healthwatch Northumberland and other local organisations and services. ”Many thanks to the team for updating the Volunteer Handbook to an easier read version.”

Thriving Together Project Manager

Information and Signposting Service

We helped people find information on a number services including patient transport, talking therapies, social prescribing, hearing loss and mental health.

Read more in our feedback summary for May 2025

Volunteers’ Week 2025

Volunteers’ Week 2025

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Read more
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 you to tell us, in confidence, about your 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 Information and Signposting 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.

  • Hexham General Hospital, Corbridge Road, Hexham, NE46 1QJ: Third Thursday of every month, next date 17 July, 10.30am – 12.30pm.
  • Morpeth Leisure Centre, Gas House Lane, NE61 1SR: Fourth Wednesday of the month, next date 23 July, 10.30am – 12.30pm.
  • Hexham Mart, Tyne Green, Hexham, NE46 3SG: Friday 8 August, 9am – 1pm.
  • Weavers’ Court, Swordy Drive, Alnwick, NE66 1SZ: Second Thursday of every other month, next date 14 August, 10.30am – 12pm.
  • Free online information session: Second Friday of the month, 1.00pm – 2.00pm. There will be a different topic each month – see our online events page or social media for details.

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

ADHD diagnosis research

ADHD diagnosis research

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In its latest report, Healthwatch England has found that people with ADHD find a diagnosis life-changing, but long waits on the NHS need urgent action.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition, characterised by difficulties with concentration, energy levels, impulsiveness, or a person’s ability to manage their time.

Healthwatch England commissioned a poll of 2,579 adults living in England to explore people’s experiences and impacts of possible ADHD and of getting an ADHD diagnosis. All respondents were either diagnosed with ADHD or thought they had it.

The survey was conducted following concerns about access to ADHD services raised by local Healthwatch and the public.

Findings

The report highlights ADHD diagnosis can change people’s lives, giving them a better understanding of themselves, improving their wellbeing and self-esteem, and concentration at work.

Yet long waits for assessments put people with suspected ADHD off seeking professional care, and almost two-thirds (64%) of people with an ADHD diagnosis said they received either no information or poor information whilst waiting for their assessment.

Of the people who responded to the poll and who are currently waiting for an assessment, nearly half, had been waiting for over a year, and 10 per cent of these for three years or more.

Healthwatch England’s report, “Recognising ADHD: How to improve support for people who need it” highlights that long waits for an ADHD assessment on the NHS put people off seeking any support.

Of all respondents, 41% said they didn’t seek a formal ADHD diagnosis, with 20% of this group giving long waits as a reason.

There is no official data on how many people are waiting for ADHD assessments. A recent BBC investigation suggested that at least 196,000 adults were on NHS waiting lists for ADHD assessments.

Recommendations

Healthwatch England warns there is an urgent need for quicker access to NHS support for ADHD and has set out four priorities for the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and other stakeholders. These are:

  • collecting data on waiting times to understand demand
  • shifting more ADHD care to community care to reduce waiting times
  • better training for staff in both primary and community care
  • and tailored information and support for people on waiting lists.

Healthwatch England sits on and supports the work of the NHS ADHD taskforce, which was set up in 2024 to address the challenges people face in getting the right support.

Read the full report

If you would like to tell us about your experience of ADHD diagnosis or treatment, please get in touch.

Hearing what matters

Hearing what matters

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Experiences of audiology services in Northumberland

What people told us about NHS audiology services in Northumberland

We asked local people to tell us about their experiences using NHS audiology services in the region, including what’s working well and what needs to improve. We also wanted to understand any barriers to using the service and how this impacted people, and the reasons some people had made the move to private audiology services.

Many praised the kind and helpful staff, and said that getting hearing aids or repairs to hearing aids had made a big difference to their quality of life and wellbeing. People also appreciated the convenience of the postal service for batteries and parts.

However, most of the feedback we had was negative. People told us they were unhappy with recent changes to the service, especially the lack of local provision and the need to travel, in some cases very long distances, to access help and support. Many mentioned age, inability to travel and health concerns as being additional barriers. This is unsurprising given most audiology users are likely to be older adults. Many mentioned long waiting times to receive support and care and some told us about the negative impact that had on their wellbeing.

Confusion about the audiology service is also evident including people not having a full understanding of what clinics are available and what services are provided in those clinics, as well as a lack of awareness of changes to the service and how to access help at various stages of hearing loss or receive follow on care.

Some communities were more dissatisfied with the changes including those in North Northumberland and Morpeth, those aged 80 plus and those with sight loss and physical mobility issues. We are also aware that hearing loss is more likely to negatively impact certain groups of people, such as those with dementia or with sight loss.

We’ll be sharing these findings to help improve access and support across the county. Read more about this work online or download at the link below.

Hearing what matters – experiences of audiology services in Northumberland

Share your experiences of audiology services, or any other NHS and social care service you have used recently.

Your feedback: April 2025

Your feedback: April 2025

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Your NHS and social care feedback for April 2025

Top issues

In April you told us it was difficult getting an appointment for both GP services and NHS dentists. We did however, hear a lot of positive feedback about the quality of care patients received from GP services, dentists and hospitals outpatients departments.

This month’s focus

This month we have been out at our usual Here to Hear sessions as well as attending additional sessions at Hexham auction mart, a Seafit event at Amble hosted by the Fishermen’s Mission and the west locality’s dementia event organised by the Locality Coordinator.

We have started work on the Persistent Physical Symptoms project, a joint research project in partnership with Northumbria Healthcare NHS FoundationTrust, Northumbria University, and residents of Blyth, Ashington and Newbiggin-by- the-Sea.

Positive feedback example

“I was referred to musculoskeletal clinic re. lumbar pain and sciatica. Physio diagnosed prolapsed lumbar disc and referred me for a MRI scan. I explained I had claustrophobia. She chose an open scanner at a private facility using NHS funding. She was honest about the 4-6 week waiting list but my scan was allocated at week three. I am now waiting for a steroid injection in the affected disc space.

This has been a very positive experience with experienced therapists who provided quick and appropriate investigations and treatment. I have been very pleasantly surprised.”

Blyth and Ashington resident

Negative feedback example

A person told us they dislike the Anima appointment booking service used by their GP surgery, as it is only open between around 7am-7pm, when they are out at work. The system also won’t allow them to book an appointment in advance for routine care. They say there should be choice over methods to book appointments and that GPs have found systems that are more convenient to THEM but not to patients.

They think online and telephone appointments might mean GPs miss out on spotting body language and other cues suggesting someone needs additional support.

The patient has received an email to say GPs will now be triaging their appointments through Anima – they feel this is doubling up the processes. When they visit the surgery they find a lack of privacy at reception due to large screens and desks. They generally find it to be an unhelpful, unwelcoming atmosphere and feel that the service has gone downhill since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castle Morpeth resident

Impact

A young volunteer with us who has led on a schools-based project contacted us to say he had been offered a place to study Medicine at both York and Sheffield Universities. He said “I’m almost certain that I couldn’t have secured these offers without my role in this project (the interviewers seemed to really enjoy hearing about it!), so thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead it”.

Information and Signposting Service

This month we were asked for help finding mental health support, cancer patient transport, information around Covid-19 vaccinations, and diabetes, amongst several other issues.

Read more in our short report for April 2025