Posts

Trends in feedback July to December 2025

Trends in feedback July to December 2025

/in , /by

Between July and December 2025, we received detailed feedback and/or requests for information from 310 people, from face-to-face events, telephone calls, emails, website queries and via social media. This was less than the previous six months (we heard from 417 people between January to June 2025) and less than the same period last year (388 people between July and December 2024).

The feedback we have received has been dominated by GP services, comprising just over a third (34%) of the feedback received in July to December 2025. This is up from the previous six months – 25% in January to June 2025.

The next most raised service was hospitals – outpatients (excluding audiology) which featured in 15% of feedback received, up a lot from the previous six-month period, when 4% of feedback was about this service.

After that, the next most raised services were: hospital – inpatients (8% of total feedback received), audiology (8%), and dentists (4%).

In July and December 2025, we signposted 84 people to different organisations for support which is 27% of the total detailed feedback received.. The three areas we had the most enquires about were:

1. Making a complaint (10% of the total requests for information)
2. Mental health support (8%)
3. Finding an NHS dentist (7%)

Despite more people leaving negative feedback about services in the last six months,  the long-term trend in the people’s perception and experiences of care services has improved.

We heard from a smaller proportion of people with a disability over the past six months than in the first half of 2025.

We heard from a smaller proportion of males in these past six months than we did in January to June 2025. This is a decrease from the high point (of 27% in July to December 2024) in the slow and steady improvement in the number of males we have had feedback from over the past two years. We are working to increase the number of males we hear from.

This half-year shows that we heard from more residents from the most deprived areas than from the least deprived areas.

The number of people from ethnic minority groups we hear from has improved and now just under 4% of total respondents are from non-white ethnic minorities – almost twice the proportion of Northumberland residents.

Read more our trends in feedback report for July to December 2025.

 

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

Trends in feedback January to June 2024

/in , /by

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.

 

Trends in feedback July to December 2023

Trends in feedback July to December 2023

/in , /by
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.

Mid-year trends in feedback Jan-Jun 2023

Mid-year trends in feedback Jan-Jun 2023

/in , /by
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.