The Healthwatch England 2023 – 24 annual report outlines how the public’s stories have changed care for the better, and the work they are doing to make sure that the health and social care system puts patients at its very heart. Here’s what Healthwatch England had to say about their report.
Read MoreHealthwatch Bedford Borough is on the lookout for a new Chair to lead its Independent Strategic Advisory Board (ISAB). This pivotal role involves guiding the organisation in its mission to amplify the voices of local residents regarding health and social care services.
Read MoreHealthwatch England and a coalition of trade unions, professional bodies, charities and patient groups, call for an end to treating patients in corridors and other inappropriate spaces.
Read MoreOn 3 January, the government announced plans to set up an independent commission on adult social care, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey. It will be tasked with developing cross-party consensus on the long-term reforms needed in the sector. It is due to report interim findings in 2026 and final conclusions two years later.
Read MoreAre you looking for a job where your qualities and expertise will make a real difference to people’s lives?
Hoping for a varied, interesting workload as part of a friendly, supportive team?
If so, then read on!
Hospices across England will receive £100m in capital funding for this year and next, the government announced this week.
Read MoreSeasons greetings from all at ECS- with our warmest wishes for the festive season and a special message from our Managing Director, Liz Learoyd.
Read MoreFrom next month, the NHS will begin to roll out a new “ping and book” cancer screening service, alerting the phones of women to remind them they are due or overdue an appointment, with new functionality being developed to enable millions to book screening through the NHS App next year.
Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed and treated until a later stage.
However despite rising uptake overall last year, the latest annual data (2022/23) shows more than a third of women (35.4%) did not take up the offer of breast screening following an invitation, with 2.18 million eligible women not having had a mammogram in the last three years.
Read MoreThe National Pharmacy Association is urging the government to urgently increase funding to contractors or it will recommend that members take 'collective action' in early 2025..
The NPA said this week that 99% of members who took part in its ballot were prepared to limit services in protest at funding shortfalls. This could mean not opening in the evenings or weekends, withdrawing free home deliveries of medicines, withdrawing from locally commissioned services like emergency contraception, or not supplying free monitored dose systems.
Read MoreSince June 2021, ECS have been hosting second year medical students from Keele University for their community placements. Students training to be doctors each have to spend time with a local community organisation who work with a range of people accessing and using health and social care services.
As a provider of seven local Healthwatch we have been able to provide placements for nine students since 2021 and have just welcomed a further six to their placement for this academic year.
Read MoreResidents across Cheshire and Merseyside are being urged to make their voices heard and help shape the future of local GP and health services by taking part in a new survey launched by Healthwatch Warrington.
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We are delighted to announce that we have been re-accredited the Cyber Essentials certificate.
Engaging Communities Solutions (ECS) are happy to announce that we have completed our re-accreditation for the Cyber Essentials certification and have been awarded the accreditation for another 12 months.
Read MoreSANDWELL Metropolitan Borough Council has awarded the new Healthwatch Sandwell contract to existing provider Engaging Communities Solutions Community Interest Company.
This means ECS (Engaging Communities Solutions) will continue to deliver the contract they have held since 2018 and maintain the high level of support offered to local residents throughout the borough.
Read MoreLord Darzi has conducted an independent investigation into the state of the NHS in England.
Lord Darzi has published his Independent Investigation into the state of the NHS in England. The report covers patient access, quality of care, and the overall performance of the health system and states that the NHS “is in serious trouble”.
Read MoreOur team at Healthwatch Halton were part of a group of local Healthwatch who conducted research for Healthwatch England on Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). The research unpacks people's experiences of using Community Diagnostic Centres and lessons for expanding community-based care.
The survey found that Community Diagnostic centres are speeding up access to tests and nearly nine in 10 users said they had positive experience, with 7 million tests, such as X-rays and scans are now provided across network in England.
Read MoreThe Healthwatch Sandwell Annual Report is now live! The team at Healthwatch Sandwell have been working hard during 2023-2024 to listen to the voices of local people throughout Sandwell and influence changes in the services that people use.
Click here to see what the team have been doing to help people get better healthcare!
Read MoreOur team at Healthwatch Bedford Borough have been in conversation with the lovely team at Bedford Borough Libraries in relation to our commitment to step up our outreach in rural parishes. This new initiative is as a result of the feedback received from stakeholders which identified the need for more rural engagement with the team at Healthwatch Bedford Borough making rural isolation one of their key strategic priority areas for 2024/25.
Read MoreFollowing last year’s Carers project, our team at Healthwatch Stoke on Trent are now launching a new Digital Carers Forum, which is their latest initiative in an ongoing commitment to supporting the Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s All-Age Carers Strategy.
Read MoreOn Wednesday 28 August, Healthwatch Walsall launches its second Health and Care Information and Advice Roadshow at the Ryecroft Community HUB. This is a great opportunity for members of the public to get invaluable Health and Care Information and Advice from a range of services. Pop along and see for yourself or to get more information about Healthwatch Walsall, visit their website here.
Read MoreA joint report by Healthwatch Halton and Healthwatch Warrington has called for improvements when patients are discharged from hospital.
The report was based on the feedback from 90 patients and their carers / family members who had been inpatients at Halton or Warrington Hospital.
Where discharge had worked well, people highlighted good communication, feeling involved in the process, involvement of their family members where applicable, and good coordination and quality of aftercare. Too often though there were inconsistencies in the discharge experience of the patients we heard from.
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