Your feedback January 2026
Your NHS and social care feedback January 2026
Top issues
This month we heard about long distances to travel to audiology appointments and oversubscribed audiology drop-in clinics. We also heard about GP services with some people telling us they received poor service and others had difficulty getting appointments.
This month’s focus
This month we held our Here to Hear public drop-in sessions in Blyth, Bedlington, Morpeth and at Hexham General Hospital. We also attended Northumberland County of Sanctuary’s session in Blyth, Hexham Livestock Mart, and Adapt (NE)’s Warm Space as additional sessions hearing from local communities.
We have been heavily involved with planning and delivering the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board’s end-of-life care planning engagement and Northumberland County Council’s Mental Health Needs Assessment.
Our online talk was delivered by Vision Northumberland for which we had a good audience.
Positive feedback example
A person told us that they received excellent care from a hospital ward team specialising in urology.
The person was first on the list for being operated on, and this happened promptly. The staff were extremely busy but still went out of their way to make time to chat with the patient. The anaesthetist made them feel at ease, even cracking jokes with them. The person was well cared for once out of theatre, provided with a good breakfast with added homely touches such as a teapot rather than just a mug of tea.
They were given clear information on discharge and about what would happen next regarding test results and a follow-up appointment. The staff made the whole process as positive as it could be.
Ashington, Blyth and Newbiggin resident
Negative feedback example
“The new audiology drop-in session in Morpeth, dealing with hearing aid checks, is totally oversubscribed and people are turned away on the third Monday of the month because the technician can only see 25 people in the session and it is not possible to make an appointment – first come, first served basis or just waiting to see if you can be seen at the end of the session.
“Getting tubes and lobes is exceedingly difficult. Personally I think the audiology department is a shambles.”
Castle Morpeth resident
Impact
We received an email from Head of Services and Support, Community Pharmacy North of Tyne: “Thanks, I had received a copy of the Pharmacy First report, which makes for interesting reading. It confirms our feeling that the older population is probably not as aware of the services offered by community pharmacy and the skills and knowledge that pharmacists have.
“We have already started to make contact with Age UK, etc. within Northumberland to start addressing this inequality.”
Information and Signposting Service
We were able to help people find the information they need on a range of issues and services, including GP practice registration, NHS complaints, benefits advice and scams awareness.
