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Feedback from October 2024

Feedback from October 2024

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This month 312 people gave us feedback on NHS and social care experiences, asked a question through our Information and Signposting Service, or came to one of our events.

16% of what you told us was positive, 55% was negative, with the rest being neutral or mixed.

GP practices and hospitals were the services we heard about most this month. Issues about online access for patients was the most common concern raised for GPs. We started to hear more about this during September, and this month makes up a third of all feedback about GP practices. Poor communication and the distance to travel were the most common concerns reported for hospitals. Poor communication was an issue either with the patient, between GP and hospital, and/or between between hospitals.

This month’s focus

We have had a busy time out in our communities with our Here to Hear drop-in events. We also attended Northumberland County Council’s World Mental Health and World Suicide Prevention Day sessions in Berwick and Cramlington, and Health and Wellbeing events in Haltwhistle, Wark and Blyth.
Our Annual Event, held at The Maltings, Berwick was a hive of activity, with around 100 people attending the Information Marketplace in the morning. Over 25 organisations from across NHS, voluntary and community services were there to let people know about the care, support and services they can offer.
At our afternoon theatre session 85 people came along to hear our review of the year and from guest speakers about mental health services, the new Berwick Hospital and community services in the area.
Working with Northumberland County Council we have launched the Pharmacy Needs Assessment survey which will run until the end of November.
This month’s online talk was from Carers Northumberland. 20 people attended to find out more about the services available to unpaid carers.
Impact
At Northumberland County Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board this month, the Principal Social Worker for Adult Social Care reported that our work had helped Adult Social Care redesign its website and also ‘helped rewrite and reframe Carers Assessment Training for Social Workers’.
Positive feedback example
A member of public told us they had a very positive experience with the early intervention psychosis team (delivered by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust). Their daughter is currently receiving
treatment and they have not only been really good with her but also with the family: keeping them in loop, checking in etc.
Cramlington, Bedlington and Seaton Valley resident
Negative feedback example
Patient lives on the border between Northumberland and Cumbria (on the  Northumberland side) so receives split care between Carlisle Hospital and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust/Newcastle
Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust hospitals.
This can sometimes cause issues with the trusts not communicating with each other and the patient not knowing which one they’ll be referred to, when.
Tynedale resident
Service providers we heard about and how many times
Brockwell Medical Group 5
Northumbria Healthcare Trust 4
Alnwick Medical Group 4
NSECH 2
Union Brae Surgery 2
Hexham General Hospital 2
We also heard about 23 other organisations once each.
Read more in our short summary.
September 2024 feedback

September 2024 feedback

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This month we heard from 210 people. The issues you told us about most were hospitals and GP services. Poor communication was the most common issue with hospitals, either with the patient or between GP and hospital and/or between hospitals. Just under a third of the feedback we received praised the quality of care within hospitals.

Access to GP services was the most reported concern, with issues about difficulty getting an appointment being the most common reason for access concerns. There appears to be emerging concerns around patients and online access too. Similar to hospitals, around a fifth of the comments we received were complimentary about the quality of service received.

Just over 5% of your feedback was about the audiology service, with concerns raised about the decline in services.

This month’s focus

We spoke to lots of people at our Here to Hear drop-ins and attended 11 additional events. At Allendale Meet and Eat, Hexham Auction Mart and rural roadshow events at Bowsden and Wooler, we heard from farmers and people living in rural locations. We also went to mental health events in Ashington, at Cramlington Memory Cafe and the first of Northumberland County Council’s World Mental Health Day events across the county which was held at Queen’s Hall in Hexham.

We gave a presentation to Tynedale Soroptimists at their monthly meeting and attended Queen Elizabeth High School’s Freshers’ Fair, with a view to recruiting more young people as volunteers.

Working with North East Ambulance Service, we have been asking for people’s views on how it delivers services, and how it supports those who contact the service. Feedback will help shape future planning and delivery.

Our online talk this month was from Diabetes UK with 20 people joining us to hear more about the support available.

Impact

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust asked to link our cost of living information webpage to its Children’s Health Services App. A representative said “We are increasingly having conversations about the impact of cost of living on our families. Our practitioners are frequently having discussions with our service users to promote financial wellbeing … The aim of our App is to provide parents and carers with access to reliable, trusted resources to manage their journey from conception to their child entering adulthood.”

Negative feedback example

A woman has two children with complex health conditions. Both children have to go to hospital for urgent treatment on a regular basis. She told us she is continually frustrated by the inability of hospitals in Northumberland and Newcastle to share information with each other.

She understands this is due to incompatible information systems. In an emergency she has to take the children to the nearest hospital which is a Northumbria Healthcare hospital. She says they do not have the same level of speciality in her children’s condition as Newcastle Hospitals, which delays treatment and they end up having to go to the Royal Victoria Infirmary anyway.

Cramlington, Bedlington and Seaton Valley resident

Positive feedback example

A patient told us their GP surgery provides an excellent service. They recently had a concern and began filling in an eConsult online form. Before they had completed all the details, they were sent an alert telling them they needed to contact the surgery about the issue.

They called and got a timely appointment with a medical student who was being supervised by a GP – this was fine for them and worked well. The patient has no complaints about the service provided by the GP.

Tynedale resident

Service providers we heard about and how many times

Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital 5
NENC Integrated Care Board (as commissioner) 4
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 3
Wooler Health 2
Wansbeck General Hospital 2
Royal Victoria Infirmary 2
Bellingham Medical Practice 2
Wellway Medical Group 2
Hexham General Hospital 2
Allendale surgery 2
Bedlingtonshire Medical Group 2

We also heard about 20 other organisations once each.

Download a pdf version of the Healthwatch Northumberland summary of feedback for September 2024

How easy is it to give feedback to your GP?

How easy is it to give feedback to your GP?

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In October 2023 we undertook a ‘health check’ of all GP practice websites in Northumberland across seven primary care networks (PCNs). There are 36 practice websites representing 45 individual surgeries. This was to see how easy it was to find information about how to raise a concern or give positive feedback and to see if signposting information for support in raising a concern was up-to-date and factually correct.

Why we did it

Patient feedback is an important part of improving patient experiences and outcomes, enabling the service provider to identify potential problem areas. Having clear processes also gives the opportunity for concerns to be dealt with swiftly to prevent escalation and to avoid undue confrontation with practice reception staff.

In most GP services complaint situations, the appropriate course of action is for a patient to initiate a complaint directly with their GP practice. Patient feedback to Healthwatch Northumberland has shown that many people seem unaware of how to resolve a complaint or concern through their GP surgery and what support options are available to them.

There have been recent changes to advocacy support in Northumberland, with VoiceAbility taking on the NHS Independent Complaints Advocacy Northumberland (ICAN) service, as well as national changes, with Integrated Care Boards(ICBs) now handling NHS primary care complaints – these were previously dealt with by NHS England.

We wanted to explore if these changes had been reflected on GP practice websites. We also wanted to gather evidence of the need for consistent messaging in order to ensure that the process of raising a concern is easy from a user’s point of view, and that signposting information is factually correct, so that patients have a clear understanding of their rights and options.

How we did it

Our staff and volunteers carried out research by visiting each GP practice website to review its complaints information. All of the websites were accessed via desktop computers and, where possible, using smartphones (29 out of the 36 websites) to ensure equal accessibility.

We are aware of other accessibility issues, for example, language barriers, and will carry out further research on this.

What we found

  • Nearly 60% of GP websites were found to be equally accessible from both desktop computer and smartphone.
  • There was a 50:50 split on whether or not information and support for raising a concern was easy to find on the websites – some information was found under different headings on the websites rather than on the main complaints page.
  • Complaints information, support options and signposting information was very muddled. Even where correct support organisation details were given, they weren’t always accompanied by the correct contact details or explanations of how the service could help.
  • In some cases, there were additional steps that needed to be taken when making a complaint online, for example, having to download forms, which could be a barrier to patients making the complaint.
  • There was a lot of variation in information and processes even between practices within the same PCN, for example, within one PCN, two practices have almost identical looking websites, but one practice directs patients to send complaints to NHS England, whereas the other directs them to the ICB.
  • Within another PCN, again, four practices have very similar looking websites, but two of them require the patient to attend the surgery in person to collect a complaint pack, one requires the patient to put a complaint in writing by post and only one practice offers the option of making a complaint online via email.

Read our full findings and recommendations

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

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Between January and June 2024, we received feedback from 417 individuals from talking to people at face-to-face events, telephone calls, emails, our website, social media and other sources. This is approximately the same as the previous six months (we heard from 422 individuals between July and December 2023). Between January and June 2024, we signposted 65 people to different organisations for further support. This is up slightly from 59 during the previous six months. Our social media content had a reach of 110,000 and almost 7000 engagements, and our website had 23,000 views, compared to a social media reach of 77,000, over 7,000 engagements and 16,000 website views between July and December 2023.

The feedback we have had for the past six months has mainly been around three service areas:

GP services

29% of all feedback received in January to June 2024 was to do with GP services (roughly the same proportion as July to December 2023). The main issues we received feedback on were difficulty getting an appointment and poor service. However, approximately one in four comments we received about GP services were positive which is an increase on the previous six months (one in five comments were positive between July and December 2023).

Hospitals
25% of all feedback received during the six months was about hospital services. The biggest concerns were around the distance to travel and lengthy waiting lists. There were also concerns raised about poor communication and poor quality of care when people got to hospital. However, just under one in three of the comments we received about hospitals were positive.

Dentists

Dentists were mentioned in 7% of all the comments we received. The vast majority of feedback was to do with the difficulties getting an NHS appointment. About 10% of respondents who fed back about dentists reported that the dentists they had spoken to were only accepting private patients. Approximately one in ten of the comments we received about dentists were positive.

These three categories made up almost two thirds (just over 61%) of the feedback we received in January to June 2024. This is up from the previous six months when these categories amounted to less than half of the feedback received (48% in July to December 2023).

Over a quarter of the feedback for GP services was about three particular GP practices. We will contact these practices individually to discuss the themes that have been raised in the feedback.

Signposting/requests for information

16% of the contacts we received in January to June 2024 were requests for information or signposting support. The top three areas were:

  • Adult social care – enquiries were mainly about getting care in the home and care assessments
  • Cost of living support – this included requests for information around benefits advice
  • COVID-19 vaccinations – enquiries were around eligibility and vaccination sites

Read more in feedback trends for January to June 2024 report.

 

What you told us February 2024

What you told us February 2024

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Health and social care feedback Northumberland February 2024

In February there were three main areas of concern, with roughly equal amounts of feedback about difficulty getting an appointment with a GP or a dentist, and the distance to travel and lengthy waiting lists to be seen at hospitals.

There were also a good proportion of positive comments about the good standards of care received from GPs and hospitals.

What did we get up to?

In addition to our usual Here to Hear sessions, we did a number of one-off sessions across the county.Some of these were to support our health visiting services project and we heard from parents and carers at Bellingham Family Hub and Haltwhistle Hub. Other sessions were an opportunity for us to join existing events, such as the CarersNorthumberland group meeting, the Thriving Together network event in Berwick and the Longhoughton Health and Wellbeing event.

We also were commissioned to hear from the residents of Coquetdale about potential changes to primary care services including the use of a mobile health unit.

We held two online sessions this month, from the British Liver Trust and Coping with Cancer. The Coping with Cancer talk was rescheduled from January when we experienced technical issues. The cancer event was very well attended, with more guests than had signed up for the original session.

Find out more in our February 2024 feedback report

 

Trends in feedback July to December 2023

Trends in feedback July to December 2023

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Between July and December 2023, we received detailed feedback from 422 individuals from talking to people at face-to-face events, telephone calls, emails, our website, social media, and other sources. This is significantly more than the previous six months (where we heard from 226 individuals between January and June 2023). We signposted 59 people to different organisations for further support. This is down slightly from the 61 people we signposted between January and June 2023. Our social media content had a reach of 77,000 and over 7000 engagements, and our website had 16,000 views.The feedback we have had in the past six months has mainly been around four services.1. GP services: 30% of all feedback received in July to December 2023 was to do with GP services. Accessing GPs and arranging appointments were the main issues being raised, with concerns about the quality of care being provided another common theme. However, approximately one in five comments we received about GP services were positive.

2. Pharmacies: 14% of all feedback received was to do with pharmacies, with over half of the comments being positive feedback about Allendale Pharmacy. This was in response to our online campaign in the autumn urging people to tell us about their pharmacy. The biggest concern, featuring in one in five comments, was around receiving incomplete prescriptions and supply issues at pharmacies.

3. Hospitals (unspecified department): Just over 10% of all feedback received in July to December 2023 was about hospitals in general. Just under half of this feedback was positive about the quality of care and the ‘brilliant staff’. The biggest concerns raised were about access, with a roughly equal split between long waiting lists and the distance patients needed to travel to attend appointments. These two issues combined featured in one in five negative feedback comments.

4. Dentists: Dentists made up 7% of the overall feedback we received. Unsurprisingly, getting an appointment with an NHS dentist was the predominant concern, with approximately three quarters of the feedback we received being about this issue. Unlike the feedback on the previous three categories, the sentiments expressed were overwhelmingly negative, with less than one in 25 of the comments we received about dentists being positive.

Read more in our mid-year report for July to December 2023.

Share for Better Care

Share for Better Care

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Share for Better Care

Last year, Healthwatch received nearly 400,000 experiences of health and social care. When services are under pressure, feedback on care can be crucial to identify what is working and what issues need fixing. But not everyone’s voice is being heard.

‘Share for Better Care’ aims to help more people give feedback about their care, especially if their community experiences poor health outcomes.

Your experience matters to us

The simple act of sharing feedback is already helping to improve care for the people who use it. We want people to know that their feedback, no matter how small, has the power to transform health and social care across the country.

Together we can improve health and care, but we can only make a difference if we know about your experience.

Have your say

Please share your experience and help us make NHS decision-makers aware of what needs to change to improve access to care, for everyone. We’re completely independent and impartial, and anything you say is confidential.

Share your experiences

 

What you told us: June 2023

What you told us: June 2023

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Health and social care feedback Northumberland June 2023

During June you told us about your continued frustration at your experiences of making a GP appointment. Poor communication, both with the public and between services, came out strongly as a theme this month – sometimes with serious repercussions.

This month we have reviewed our Here to Hear session venues. We have visited a lot of potential venues to gauge how they will help us hear from different communities. Further details of the new venues will be announced soon.

We also published our for 2022/23, which gives an overview of the work we have done over the past 12 months in Northumberland, to engage with communities and where we have worked with commissioners and providers to highlight key issues.

Read our short report below to find out more.

Healthwatch Northumberland report June 2023

 

 

 

 

Mid-year trends in feedback Jan-Jun 2023

Mid-year trends in feedback Jan-Jun 2023

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Between January and June 2023, we received detailed feedback from 226 individuals from talking to people at face-to-face events, telephone calls, emails, our website, social media and other sources. We also heard from an additional 705 young people in specific pieces of work including our ‘How are you feeling?’ young people’s campaign and the Autistic Young People and Mental Health Services project. We also heard from another 230 people of all ages when we spoke to people about the closure of Lloyds pharmacy in Manor Walks, Cramlington.
The feedback we have had over the past six months has been mainly around three services:1. GP Services -Accessing GPs and arranging appointments were the main areas we heard about, although issues around prescriptions also featured strongly (27% of all feedback received from January to June 2023).

2. Hospitals – Dissatisfaction with the service at hospitals – both inpatients and outpatients (16% of all feedback received in January to June 2023).

3. Dentists – Accessing NHS dentists (14% of all feedback received during January to June 2023).

Read more in our mid-year report for January to June 2023.

 

What you told us: May 23

What you told us: May 23

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Health and social care feedback Northumberland May 2023

During May you told us about the difficulties you were having ordering and getting hold of prescription medicine. We also heard from a number of people that they were still having issues booking a GP appointment. Poor service in local hospitals was another theme from feedback this month.

This month we spent time listening to customers of Lloyds Pharmacy in Sainsbury’s Cramlington, about the impact of the planned closure of the pharmacy this summer. We visited the pharmacy, which is the only 100 hours per week pharmacy in Cramlington, at different times of the day and week, to speak to customers and the wider community, to see what effect the closure would have on local people and other pharmacies in the area. We also provided an online feedback form and heard from 230 people.

As well as our regular Here to Hear drop-in sessions in Berwick, Blyth, Prudhoe, Morpeth and Bedlington, we attended events which included Prudhoe Health Week, the Fishermen’s Mission SeaFit event in Amble and the Choppington Disability Group monthly session.

Read our short report below to find out more.

Healthwatch Northumberland report May 2023