Our monthly reports provide an overview of the feedback we have had and who we’ve been hearing from. In our February 2023 ‘at-a-glance’ report you can read some examples of positive and negative feedback we received and what our main focus has been throughout the month.
Healthwatch Northumberland feedback report February 2023
Thank you to everyone who told us about their experiences of maternal mental health care. Healthwatch England has analysed the responses shared by 2,693 new mothers and birthing parents since April 2020 and you can read the findings below.
The analysis suggests that not all GP practices comply with the requirement to provide six to eight-week postnatal checks. And where those checks take place, it is not clear that GP practices are aware of NICE guidance which tells them in detail how to spot mental health problems and provide help.
In April 2020, the Government introduced the six to eight-week postnatal check after Healthwatch England shared the experiences of almost 1,800 women on mental health during their journey to parenthood.
General practitioners in England have since been contractually obliged and paid to assess new mothers’ mental health and wellbeing, providing an opportunity for referral to specialist services and additional support. Crucially, the checks must take place separately from a postnatal check focused on the health of the baby.
The latest research took place between October and December of 2022 to find out to what extent mental health support has improved during and after pregnancy.
Louise Ansari, National Director at Healthwatch England said: “With mental ill health affecting up to a third of new and expectant mums, six-week postnatal checks are key to assessing their wellbeing after the birth. If left untreated, poor mental health can have a devastating impact on new parents and their families.
“Unfortunately, our findings show that although most new mothers and birthing parents are likely to be invited to a postnatal consultation, these are frequently carried out as a tick-box exercise, where mental health is not treated as a priority or not assessed at all.
“Monitoring the delivery of six-week checks should be the first step to ensuring there’s a consistent approach to offering quality mental health support to all new mothers. NHS England should consider what additional support and guidance it can provide to GPs so that the help new parents get is of the best quality.
“We also need to ensure that maternal mental health and peri-natal services continue to remain on the government’s agenda and a priority in workforce planning and funding budgets.”
Healthwatch England has made five recommendations to help ensure every new mother and birthing parent receives the six-week check, and that it is of the highest quality:
Find maternity and parenting information and support
Get in touch to tell us about your experiences
As part of our work on NHS dentistry services in Northumberland, we, along with 29 other Local Healthwatch, made a formal submission to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. The committee has now published the submissions.
The Chair of the Committee, Conservative MP Steve Brine, was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme on 6 March. The item is at 38 minutes in, with reference to Local Healthwatch just after 42 minutes.
In the interview Mr Brine says “We’ve had hundreds of pieces of written evidence from trade bodies, professionals, charities, people working in the profession, but quite a lot of it has been from local Healthwatch and from patients themselves, telling some pretty painful stories of…DIY dentistry…home tooth extractions, people tying shoelaces to teeth…”
At the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 7 March, our Project Coordinator Derry Nugent, urged local elected members to encourage their residents to contact us for issues such as this, which can only be fixed at national level.
NHS dentistry in Northumberland continues to be difficult to access, especially in the Berwick area. If you are in pain and need to see a dentist urgently, please call NHS 111.
Please keep sharing your experiences of NHS dental care, so that we can keep making sure these are heard by those paying for services.
Join us for our next free lunchtime event on Friday 14 April, 1pm-2pm, to hear from Maria Lavelle of Eating Distress North East (EDNE), who will talk about the early identification of eating disorders and how best to support those who have one.
She will cover how to recognise signs, symptoms and potential triggers of an eating disorder; practical strategies for working with people with eating disorders; and increase your knowledge of local support services in Northumberland and the North East of England.
This session is suitable for anyone living or working in Northumberland. There will be a chance to ask questions after the presentation.
and we will send you a link to join closer to the event.
If you would like to tell us about your experience of accessing support for an eating disorder or would like help finding local support services please get in touch.
This event has now passed
Our short monthly reports give an overview of what people have been telling us about the NHS and social care services they have used recently. We can also see who we have been hearing from and if we’ve had more feedback from some parts of the county than others.
What you tell us helps us build a picture of what is working well and where there are issues in services, and is taken into account by those providing services when making decisions about local care.
Read our ‘at a glance’ feedback report for January 2023.
Our mid-year report looks at the trends in who we heard from over the last six months, and what we heard about services. We are a listening organisation and 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 local services in their area through our Signposting and Information Service.
Between July and December 2022, we received feedback from 368 individuals from talking to people at face-to-face engagement events, telephone calls, emails, our website and our social media pages.
The feedback we have had in the past six months has been around two big issues:
1. Accessing GPs and arranging appointments – 29% of all feedback received.
2. Accessing NHS dentists – 20% of all feedback received.
Read more in our mid-year report for July to December 2022
Join us to hear from Tania Spurling from the Limbless Association on Friday 10 March, 1pm-2pm via Zoom. Tania will talk to us about having a limb amputated, tips to help manage and how we can help others living with their loss of a limb. We will also hear what support is available from the charity and there will be a chance to ask questions.
The Limbless Association is the largest civilian limb loss charity in the UK. As a national charity, working with amputees and sector professionals for over 39 years, the Limbless Association offers both practical and emotional support for amputees throughout their pre and post-amputation journey.
This session will provide an overview of the Limbless Association’s services and support available for amputees, their families, friends, and professionals. Register now and we will send you a link to join closer to the event:
This event has now passed
The Fishermen’s Mission January SeaFit event in Amble was featured on BBC Look North on Monday 31 January.
This regular drop-in event at Amble Quayside brings GP and physio services, plus health information to fishermen and their families, making it easier for them to access healthcare and support. We were there with our Signposting and Information Service, and Project Coordinator Derry was interviewed by the BBC for the piece on the BBC programme.
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.
