What you told us: November 2023
Health and social care feedback Northumberland November 2023
- In November the main things you told us about were:
GP services: Difficulty getting an appointment was again the top concern raised this month, although approximately a fifth of the feedback we received praised the quality of care from GP practices. - Dentists: Difficulty getting an appointment featured strongly again this month.
- Hospitals (outpatients’ appointments): Long waiting times and the distance needing to travel to get to appointments were raised. There was also a fair proportion of positive comments around the quality of care received.
What did we get up to?
This month we were at a number of one-off events including Seghill Food Hub, Ponteland and Blyth Winter Warmer events, Prudhoe wellbeing event, Haltwhistle diabetes awareness event and the Forget-me-nots Christmas drop-in.
We also held an IT special event in Blyth with staff from Marine Medical Group to show patients how to use eConsult, help them register for GP online services and download the NHS app.
The online talk this month was from Stroke Association and it was well received by the members of the public and health professionals who attended.
We also started on a joint project with all the local Healthwatch in the North East and North Cumbria reviewing the state of NHS dentistry in the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board area.
I’m not too concerned about outpatients waiting times, more about the time of appointments when I need to travel to Newcastle hospitals, especially on public transport.