Join us at our AGM/Review of the Year!

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Healthwatch Northumberland AGM 2021

Thursday 4 November, 2021, 10.00am -12.00pm

 

If you live or work in Northumberland, we’d love you to join us at our AGM and Review of the Year 2021.

This free, online event is a chance to find out more about our work as health and social care champion for Northumberland.

We’ll be reviewing our work over the last 18 months and letting you know our priorities for the coming year.

The event will be opened by Cllr Wendy Pattison, Portfolio Holder for Adults’ Wellbeing.

This is also a chance to hear from the new Northumberland Recovery College.

Offering free courses, workshops and activities across the county and online, the Northumberland Recovery College is here to promote and improve the wellbeing of all residents of Northumberland.

The team will be telling us about the growth and future plans of the college along with showcasing some short tasters of what the college can offer to support mental health and wellbeing.

Taster session 1: A Guided visualisation- using imagery to support your wellbeing

Guided imagery involves listening to someone’s voice, relaxing the breathing and directing the ability to imagine. Research has shown that guided imagery can help to manage stress, reduce fear and anxiety, as well as reduce the occurrence of headaches.

Taster Session 2: Building Resilience:

Resilience: our ability to bounce back when we get knocked down, just like a Weeble. This taster session will introduce the concept of emotional resilience, answer some questions from our dear friend Bob and look at a skill we can all use in everyday life to improve our wellbeing.

Register now to reserve your place.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the event but if you’d like to raise a question now, to be asked at the AGM please email info@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk.

Read more about our work

World Menopause Day

Menopause Day: A tale of two Tinas

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World Menopause Day: A tale of two Tinas

On World Menopause Day this year we wanted to highlight the differences in treatment from healthcare services in Northumberland that two women have experienced as they go through the menopause.

‘A tale of two Tinas’ is two women’s experience of healthcare treatment for perimenopause and menopause, told from their own point of view.

Given that almost half of the population of Northumberland are going to go through the menopause at some stage in their lives, we would hope that Tina R’s story, outlined below, would be the most common experience.

A Tale of Two Tinas: World Menopause Day 2021

Read more about the symptoms and treatment of menopause at the NHS website.

Miss Menopause is a Facebook group for working women in the north east.

 

Why don’t you tell us your story of the healthcare services you have used during the menopause, and help us build a picture of what’s happening across the county.

Felton and Widdrignton surgery proposals

Felton Surgery engagement

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Earlier this year we helped Felton and Widdrington GP surgeries to get feedback from residents and patients about the proposal to merge the surgeries. We held two online forums and heard from 12 people about the proposed merger, the practice’s plan for a new surgery in Felton and the potential temporary relocation to Widdrington Surgery should the practice need to move out of Felton before the new build is complete.

We will publish our findings and recommendations based on the feedback we received in due course.

The report will form part of the surgeries’ business proposal being considered by NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group.

 

Tell us about your recent experiences of any NHS or social care service

Care home visiting

Care homes: keeping in touch with loved ones

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We are holding another public online forum via Zoom for anyone who would like to share their current experiences of visiting loved ones in care homes.

At our previous forums we have heard from people whose loved ones live in care homes about the impact of visiting restrictions and ways they have been keeping in touch. We also ran a survey and heard from care home staff and relatives of those living in care homes. All feedback received has resulted in our recent care home report which has been welcomed by providers and commissioners.

Read Care Homes, Covid-19 and beyond

The forum will take place on Monday 8 November, from 10am to 11.30am.

We also want to produce some information and guidance to support people whose loved ones may be moving to a care home and would appreciate your help and experience to develop this.

If you would like to register for our forum please contact Helen Brown by email: helenb@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk or call us on 03332 408468 (option 3). Once registered, we will send you the Zoom link before the event.

If you can’t make the forum but would like to tell us your story, or would rather speak to one of our team in confidence please get in touch.

Would you like to have a say in improving end of life care in Northumberland? We have been asked by NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to find out what is important to the residents of Northumberland when thinking about end of life care.

End of life care focus group

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End of life care in Northumberland focus group

Friday 15 October 2021, 10.00am – 12.00pm, online.

Would you like to have a say in improving end of life care in Northumberland? We have been asked by NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to find out what’s important to the residents of Northumberland when thinking about end of life care.

We would like feedback from you at our online focus group on the CCG’s ambitions for end of life care and the idea of an end of life agreement. This would outline what responsibilities and expectations care providers should have and the role of us all in helping to achieve these.

If you are interested in taking part please contact: helenb@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk for more information or to register for the session.

The number of places on the session are limited so let us know as soon as you can if you can join us. You’ll receive a £10 gift voucher as a thank you for taking part.

Leave feedback on any NHS or social care service you or your family have used in the last 12 months.

Where next? What you told us

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Every year we conduct an annual satisfaction survey with the residents of Northumberland to find out what they thought about the NHS and social care services they have used over the last 12 months. We also look at how this compares with the previous years’ results. With 2020-21 being such an exceptional year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year we decided to shift the focus away from looking back over the preceding year and more towards the forthcoming year. Therefore, the aims of this year’s annual survey were to:

• Gain an overview of satisfaction levels with health and social care services in the preceding 12 months

• Gain clear direction from the residents of Northumberland which two health services and which two social care services we should prioritise in our work for the next year and why.

We received a total of 617 responses to our survey of which 199 were via the online version and 418 were paper copies returned via freepost  or completed at a face-to-face event.

Read more – Where next: what you told us in our Annual Survey 2021.

 

To leave feedback on services at any time or ask a question of our Information and Signposting Service, please get in touch.

Young People and Mental Health

Young people and mental health

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Healthwatch Northumberland is the independent champion for people who use health and social care services. We are a listening organisation working across Northumberland, interested in what people like about services and what can be improved. We act on what people are saying, sharing their views with those who have the power to make change happen. We also help people find the information they need about services in their area and record this as ‘signposting’.

Between January and March 2021 we ran an online survey to gauge the access and support received by young people (aged between 13 – 25 years) from mental health services in Northumberland.

We promoted the survey through our own social media channels and website as well as contacting all secondary and high schools in Northumberland. We also contacted all the local youth groups across the county and other relevant partners such as Northumberland CVA, the Aging Well Network and town and parish councils. The survey had 51 responses. Read our findings at the link below:

Young People and Mental Health: Experiences of access and support in Northumberland

Find mental health services and support

man in a care home Northumberland

Care homes, Covid-19 and beyond

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In September 2020 it was widely reported that people who were living in care homes in Northumberland during lockdowns had struggled to keep in touch with their loved ones, as visiting restrictions were in place to protect the most vulnerable from infection.

We responded by asking for feedback from people whose loved ones were in care homes in Northumberland. We hosted a series of online forums which took place in November 2020, January 2021, March 2021, and June 2021. We had 46 attendees across these four forums consisting of 26 different people, as many attended more than one and in some cases all of the forums.

At different stages of changes in visiting guidance for care homes these forums gathered feedback from relatives around their experience of visiting and other ways they were keeping in touch with loved ones during the pandemic. We also heard from professionals who work with older people including those with dementia, their carers, and other professionals in the health and social care field.

It is important to acknowledge that the Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented and care home staff had to work under extremely difficult and challenging conditions for a long time. Whilst many relatives who attended the forums generally had less than positive experiences to share, they were also keen to know what good practice was taking place across care homes.

Visiting experiences had also improved by our final forum and survey responses have also shared positive approaches taking place. We ran a survey for relatives of those living in care homes and care home staff from mid-March to early June 2021 to gather additional feedback. The survey had a total of 22 responses.

Read more in our report: Care Homes, Covid-19 and Beyond

Find lots of information and support at our Your Health pages

We’re recruiting – join our board!

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Could this be you?

  • Are you passionate about improving local NHS and care services?
  • Could you act as the ‘eyes and ears’ of your community and let us know about any changes needed to local health and social care services?
  • Do you want to ensure Healthwatch Northumberland works in an inclusive and equitable way?

Great! We would like you think about joining our board.

You would be one of 15 board members who guide and oversee Healthwatch Northumberland’s work.

It is very important the people involved with Healthwatch Northumberland have experience of using health and social care services including as a carer. We are keen to hear how you could use what you know to help understand what is happening in our diverse communities.

How much time is involved?

The minimum commitment is four board meetings per year plus a review day.  Meetings take place during the working day, and last approximately 2.5 hours.  We meet in different places (we pay travel expenses) or online.

If you want to you can get more involved including helping us at community engagement events or with research.  It would be up to you.

If you want to know more have a look at our information pack and or contact Derry Nugent, Project Co-ordinator on 07590 880016 or derryn@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk.

Please return completed application forms by 1 October 2021.

Information Pack

Application Form

This vacancy has now closed.