Posts

What we heard in May 2024

What we heard in May 2024

/in , /by

Health and social care feedback Northumberland May 2024

Poor communication was the common theme we heard about again this month, with negative comments about hospitals and GP surgeries not communicating with each other, and patients not getting clear communication from the services either.

We were invited by Healthwatch England to give a presentation on our Autism and Young People Report that we produced in the summer of 2022, as an example of good practice. The presentation was given to Healthwatch England’s Research and Insight Network Group. Partly as a result of the feedback on this presentation Healthwatch England has set up a special forum devoted to working with patients with ADHD and autism on its internal webchat site.

Positive feedback

A patient told us “I had an appointment for an ECG. I reported to hospital outpatients reception where I was quickly and efficiently checked in. When I entered the ECG waiting room I was met by a nurse who greeted me politely and confirmed my appointment. One minute later I was taken by another nurse who carried out my ECG check. He was professional and polite and confident. My whole visit lasted around 20 minutes but I must say I felt in very safe hands and these guys were a shining example of pure professionalism. Well done and thanks.”

Negative feedback

A lady reported that her husband had been waiting for two years for keyhole knee surgery. There had been poor communication between the GP, the consultant and the physiotherapist, with each one referring to the next one and going round in circles each time, leading to the long delay.

Find out more in our short report

 

Your feedback April 2024

Your feedback April 2024

/1 Comment/in , /by

Health and social care feedback Northumberland April 2024

In April the most common issue reported to us was poor communication from service providers. This includes patients having trouble navigating telephone systems or difficulty using online triage systems such as eConsult, at GP surgeries. We also had comments around the cost of accessing private podiatry and dental services.

Our online talk was from Northumberland County Council’s Health Trainer service. We were able to record this session and A good number of people came along to the session and we had permission to record this month’s talk – the link to this and previous sessions can be found on our YouTube channel.

Find out more in our April 2024 feedback report

What you told us: June 2023

What you told us: June 2023

/in , /by

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

 

 

 

 

What you told us: May 23

What you told us: May 23

/in , , /by

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

What you told us: October to December 2020

What you told us: October to December 2020

/in , /by

As the independent champion for people who use health and social care services, Healthwatch Northumberland is a listening organisation working across Northumberland, interested in what people think is working well in 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’.

People who use health and social care services tell us about their experiences throughout the year. This report shares a summary of the feedback collected from October to December 2020. During this period, we have continued to work in different ways due to the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic. The next report will cover January to March 2021.

This quarter we received feedback and enquiries from:

• Telephone calls, emails, website and social media (73%)
• Talking to people at online engagement events (25%)
• Through a third party (2%)

Areas of Focus
We are open to all feedback about health and social care services. Responses to our 2020 Annual Survey helped us to identify a specific Areas of Focus which we are prioritising in 2020/21; this includes mental health services, dementia and GP services. Covid-19 has meant changes have been made to health and social care services. Patients and carers’ experiences and signposting requirements are likely to have been different during this time. For this reason, we have also chosen to focus on any feedback we receive which is related to covid19 and these changes.

 

Read the October to December 2020 Report