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Recent Projects

Here are some examples of recent community engagement programmes we have been contracted to deliver.

St Andrew’s Healthcare Enter and View Report

Posted on 13th August 2024

Our report on the Enter and View visits we conducted at St Andrew’s Healthcare has now been published!

Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire partnered with the East Midlands Provider Collaborative for Adult Secure Care, known as IMPACT, to carry out multiple Enter and View visits of St Andrew’s Healthcare.

St Andrew’s purpose is to inspire hope for those living with complex mental health needs, by working in partnership with the NHS, voluntary, academic and research organisations to deliver specialist inpatient and community mental healthcare.

The intention of the project was to visit a variety of mental health inpatient wards within St Andrew’s to gather an in-depth look at the different services, as well as gather the experiences of patients, families, carers and staff. 

Healthwatch staff and volunteers accompanied IMPACT on its regular service reviews, where they visited six wards. These included men’s and women’s low and medium secure, as well as speciality services for learning disabilities and autism (LDA) and Deaf services.

Some of the key findings discovered include:

  • Staff are passionate and deeply committed to their work
  • The provision of services and modifications on the wards for those with disabilities is well delivered
  • Activities on and off the ward positively influence patients’ treatment and progress however, staff shortages limit the availability of activities
  • Some staff felt unsafe working on the wards when staffing levels were not achieved. They also felt that patients do not feel safe when staffing levels are low

The report below details the findings discovered from the visits, staff, patient, family and carer feedback as well as Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire’s recommendations to St Andrew’s Healthcare.

St-Andrews-Visit-FinalDownload

Filed Under: Recent Projects

Corby Willowbrook Health Centre CDC Enter and View

Posted on 31st July 2024

In December 2023 Healthwatch England initiated a project about understanding people’s experiences of diagnostic services. Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire participated by visiting Corby’s Willowbrook Health Centre, evaluating accessibility and gathering patient feedback.

The key findings

Accessibility and transport:

  • The centre is accessible by public transport, with a bus stop nearby.
  • Issues with parking availability, especially for disabled spaces, which were sometimes occupied by mobile diagnostic vans.

Facilities and environment:

  • The diagnostic services visited (phlebotomy and ultrasound) were quiet and pleasant, with clean and comfortable seating.
  • Some patients had to stand due to limited seating in the waiting area shared by ultrasound, x-ray, and urgent care.

Staff and patient interaction:

  • Staff were friendly and respectful of patient privacy and dignity.
  • There was a lack of usage and signage for hearing loops, and no posters informing patients about accessible information standards.

Patient feedback:

  • Most patients found the location convenient and the staff to be the best part of their experience.
  • Issues highlighted included the need for improved parking and a larger waiting room.

Read the full report below for more in depth information on our observations of the centre, patient feedback and recommendations we made.

CDC-HWNW-Visit-Report-Download

Filed Under: Recent Projects

The Value of listening: HWR’S 2023-2024 Annual Report is published

Posted on 22nd July 2024

During the year we continued to speak out to health and care providers to ensure that the views and needs of Rutland people are at the heart of decision-making on health and social care matters.

Our Annual Report highlights how we have engaged with the Rutland public, how we have represented your voice to influence change and how we’ve made a difference:

  • 1690 people shared their experiences of health and social care services with us, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care.
  • 1127 people came to us for clear advice and information about topics such as mental health and the cost-of-living crisis.

Highlights of 2023-2024 included:

  • Calling attention to the public confusion around how to access Urgent Care services in Rutland and what the various services offer
  • Working in partnership with health and social care providers to bring care closer to home with the restarting of Memory Clinics in Oakham and an in-person support and advice service
  • Bringing to light the lack of progress in improving availability of NHS dental care for people in Rutland and campaigning for commissioners to take urgent action
  • Involving you in change by using your feedback to inform the development of the local 5 year NHS plan 
  • Helping you to find answers and encouraging providers to be clear with their electronic communication to patients
  • Collaborating with the patient group at Oakham Medical Practice to understand and highlight patient experiences following the implementation by the Practice, of improvement plans in response to CQC findings

We always need more people to tell us about their experiences of health and care services – by talking to us or responding to our surveys. Through this we can confidently say we are reaching all corners of our community. Healthwatch Rutland is your service, providing you with the opportunity to have your say. Please use and support us so that the Rutland voice is recognised across the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland health and care system.

Dr Janet Underwood, Healthwatch Rutland Chair
The-Value-of-Listening-Healthwatch-Rutland-Annual-report-2023-24Download

Filed Under: News, Recent Projects

Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire Annual Report 2023-24

Posted on 9th July 2024

We are happy to announce that we have published our 2023-2024 Young Healthwatch Annual Report.

Young Healthwatch are a group of 11-24 year old volunteers who are keen to make a difference in health and social care for young people. Read about our year!

We have worked on some fantastic projects this year and have really made sure that young people are heard in health and social care locally. Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire know that they are not the voice of all young people locally, but they are working hard to make sure that young people locally do have a voice.

Esther Stimpson, Young Healthwatch Manager
YHW 23-24 Annual ReportDownload

Filed Under: News, Recent Projects

Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire Annual Report 2023-2024: The value of listening

Posted on 9th July 2024

We are happy to announce that we have published our 2023-2024 Annual Report.

Our Annual Report is a showcase of the work we completed throughout the last financial year. Read about our year!

Highlights of 2023-2024:

We published 5 reports (all can be accessed here)

  • We were asked by Change Grow Live to engage with service users and gather a better understanding of their experiences
  • Young Healthwatch visited the Children’s services at NGH to give their views and impressions of the service
  • We visited the maternity departments of NGH and KGH to give our views and provide recommendations to the service
  • We partnered with West Northamptonshire Council to understand the experiences of individuals with respiratory conditions

How we’ve made a difference throughout the year:

  • We spoke with Change Grow Live service users and uncovered the barriers experienced and the benefits of treatment
  • We attended engagement events such as the Northampton Carnival where we heard the public’s views on local health and social care services
  • We worked with those experiencing respiratory difficulties in an area of deprivation in Northampton to better understand their experiences and the support they need to live their best life
HWNW Annual Report 2023-2024lDownload

Filed Under: News, Recent Projects

Integrated Care Northamptonshire Engaging in Research Collaborative Project

Posted on 20th May 2024

Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire’s latest report is published, containing the results of the barriers to the public engaging in health and social care research.

Integrated Care Northamptonshire wanted to better understand what the barriers to health and social care research are within Northamptonshire and asked Healthwatch North and West Northamptonshire for collaboration on this topic.

To deliver this project, we engaged with the community through a survey and two focus groups which helped us gather key information.

The report below contains our key findings, recommendations that can be made to ICN and other community services, as well as the results of the survey and focus groups.

Read the report:

HWNW-ICB-Final-ESDownload

Read the easy read version:

HWNW-Easy-read-ICBDownload

Filed Under: Recent Projects

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