News

News – 22 April 2026

Pharmacy First promises quicker treatment for minor conditions, but we want to know how it’s working for Rutland residents. Our new project will explore real experiences, from confidence using the service to the barriers people face, so we can help shape a system that delivers faster, easier access to care.

Healthwatch Rutland is launching a new project to find out how well the Pharmacy First service is working for people across the county. Pharmacy First is designed to give quicker treatment for minor conditions and reduce pressure on GP services, but its success depends on how easy it is for people to use and how confident they feel doing so.

Over the coming months, we’ll be gathering insight to build a clear picture of how well Pharmacy First is working in Rutland – how accessible it feels, how confident people are using it and what gets in the way.

Alongside a short survey, our volunteers will be in local pharmacies listening to people’s experiences first hand. We’ll also meet with pharmacists and practice managers to understand how the service is operating within current primary care pressures. Together, these conversations will help us to highlight what’s working well, pinpoint any barriers and shape practical recommendations to improve uptake.

If you live in Rutland and have used Pharmacy First, or simply want to share your views, we’d really like to hear from you. Your experiences will help shape a service designed to make accessing care quicker, easier and more consistent for everyone.

What does Pharmacy First involve?

Pharmacy First is the NHS service that allows pharmacists to supply prescription medicines including antibiotics and antivirals to patients, without reference to a GP for 7 specific conditions: 

lllness	Age range
Acute otitis media (ear infection)	1-17 years
Impetigo	1 year +
Infected insect bites	1 year +
Shingles	18 years +
Sinusitis	12 years +
Sore throat	5 years +
Uncomplicated urinary tract  infections	Women 16-64 years

Patients can walk in or be referred from NHS 111 or GP practice.

News – 28 July 2026

Last month we said farewell to Dr Janet Underwood as she stepped down from her role as Chair of the Healthwatch Rutland Advisory Board.

Janet, has stepped down from her role as Chair of the Healthwatch Rutland Advisory Board to spend more time on her other interests. 

Her longstanding commitment to improving access to care for people in Rutland has made a meaningful and lasting difference. Janet has been a powerful advocate for rural communities, ensuring that the challenges faced by residents are recognised and addressed within wider health and care discussions. Her leadership and dedication has helped shape improvements in how people receive support across the county.

Janet leaves the board with the gratitude of our staff and volunteers, who have valued her insight and unwavering focus on what matters to local people. While we will miss her in the role of Chair, we are delighted that she will continue to contribute to our work as a volunteer.

We extend our warmest thanks and very best wishes to Janet for the future and look forward to continuing our shared commitment to championing the voices of Rutland residents.

Pictured here presented with flowers by our new Chair, Alan Walters, Janet said: 

” Over the last 8 years I have enjoyed serving as Chair of Healthwatch Rutland. During that time, I have helped to research and co-author many reports and have represented the voices of Rutland residents at many health and care meetings. I have now decided that it’s time to step back, enjoy more leisure time and hand over the reins to someone who can bring fresh enthusiasm and ideas”.

Healthwatch Rutland is calling out to residents who have been involved in an emergency where a community defibrillator was needed. Please share your experience.

Community defibrillators save lives and every minute can make a difference during a cardiac arrest. When people feel confident using defibrillators, they are powerful tools for our community. 

Your experience, whether as a bystander, a member of the public who stepped forward to help, someone who supported the incident afterwards, or as a patient, can help us build a clearer picture of how well these devices serve our communities.

Your stories will highlight what works and what could make the system stronger. If you’ve been part of an emergency where a defibrillator was needed, we’d be grateful to hear from you. Your insight could help improve outcomes for future patients across Rutland.

Please share your experience on a simple form containing 4 questions.

Alternatively please email info@healthwatchrutland.co.uk with your story or leave a message on 07399 584572 and we’ll call you back.

News – 10 September 2026

Healthwatch Rutland is inviting local people to share their experiences of leaving hospital as part of a new national survey to improve hospital discharge experiences across the country.

When you are discharged and leave the hospital ward where you were being treated you may be returning home, moving to a care home, to a community hospital bed, or somewhere else to continue your recovery. 

If patients are discharged too early without proper support, they may need to be readmitted to hospital or seek help from GPs or pharmacies.

Meanwhile, delays in discharging medically fit people create issues for new patients needing beds, leading to longer wait times in A&E and treatment in corridors until beds are available. 

Locally, in April 2026, data from the NHS shows that 13.2% of patients discharged by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust were discharged at least one day after they were recorded as ready for discharge. This was approximately 826 patients out of 6281.

We think leaving hospital should be a step towards recovery, not a source of stress or uncertainty.  Whether you had to wait longer than expected to leave hospital, left before you felt ready, or struggled to get the support you needed afterwards, your experience matters. 

The survey, which asks you to share experiences that happened in the last year, is particularly aimed at people who experienced difficulties during the discharge process, including: 

• Delays in leaving hospital. 

• Leaving hospital before they were ready. 

• Problems accessing the support, equipment, medication, information, or follow-up care needed after leaving hospital. 

The survey closes on 9 October.

By taking a few minutes to share your story, you can help Healthwatch make hospital discharge processes work better for patients and carers across England. 

Healthwatch West Northamptonshire Advisory Board minutes for October 2025 and January 2026 can be found below.

Local Healthwatch continue to make a significant contribution to improving people’s access to health and care services. They reduce inequalities, strengthen community-based support and ensure that people’s experiences shape decisions about the services they use.

Each year, local Healthwatch organisations publish their annual reports. Together, they provide a unique insight into people’s experiences of health and care services, the issues affecting communities and the improvements local Healthwatch organisations help bring about.

This review highlights a network whose independently determined priorities often reflect many of the themes now shaping national health and care policy.

While local Healthwatch organisations prioritise work based on the experiences and concerns people share with them, annual reports demonstrate a strong focus on improving access to community-based support, supporting prevention and earlier intervention, and ensuring digital services work for everyone.