Quarterly Report October – December 2019
Introduction
As a listening organisation working across Northumberland, Healthwatch Northumberland wants to hear what people like about health and social care 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’.
We receive feedback from people living in Northumberland about their experiences throughout the year. This report shares a summary of the feedback collected from October to December 2019. The next report will cover January – March 2020.
This quarter we received feedback and enquiries from:
- Telephone calls, emails and social media (31%)
- Postal surveys and feedback forms (12%)
- Talking to people at local engagement events (27%)
- Through a meeting (27%)
- Through a third party (4%)
Areas of Focus
We are open to all feedback about health and social care services. Responses to our Annual Survey helped us to identify three specific Areas of Focus which we are prioritising in 2019/20:
- General Practitioner Services (GP Services)
- Mental Health Services, including dementia care
- Access to Services
Aims
The report aims to increase understanding of:
- Who Healthwatch Northumberland is hearing from
- What people are saying
- The general sentiment of comments
- What people are experiencing
- What is working well?
- Where there are areas for improvement?
Feedback
Between October and December 2019, we received 26 pieces of feedback through talking to people at local engagement events, telephone calls, emails, our website, surveys and feedback forms and other sources. Alongside this, we signposted 17 people to services. Altogether we had 39 different recordable interactions this quarter.
This report explores who Healthwatch Northumberland is hearing from across the county, presenting a summary demographic information of those who got in touch. Demographic information includes location, gender, age, and whether the respondent is sharing their own health and social care experience or speaking on behalf of a friend or relative.
We also look at whether the feedback is negative or positive, with specific reference to the service type (e.g. primary care, secondary care, mental health, social care), as well as whether the feedback relates specifically to quality of care or access to services.
