ECS Healthwatch teams investigate Digital exclusion in Primary Care Services due to Covid-19
Healthwatch England looked at ease of public accessing GP appointments and how appointments were delivered during Covid-19 Lockdown
During the Covid-19 lockdown Healthwatch England undertook a project that looked at the experiences of the public in accessing GP appointments and how appointments were being undertaken, such as by digital means. They found that the self-selecting sample that responded to the survey were largely comfortable with using digital technology for their appointments. However, they were conscious that the sample did not necessarily represent those who are experiencing social deprivation, those who were over 65, disabled or had language barriers.
Therefore, Healthwatch England have begun work to carry out qualitative research that targets those groups that were not represented in the previous report. Engaging Communities Staffordshire (ECS) have joined forces with Healthwatch England, and ECS Research Manager, Deb Faulks is leading the team to conduct a study into digital exclusion in Primary Care Services across our nine Healthwatch services in Leicester & Leicestershire, Halton, Warrington, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, and Walsall.
We have also been in contact with Diabetes UK
Since our initial conversations with Healthwatch England, we have been in contact with Diabetes UK who are also looking at digital exclusion and its impact on accessing healthcare for people who have Diabetes and we are pleased to confirm we are now conducting this research in collaboration with Diabetes UK. Our research will target specific groups of patients that may be more likely to have little or no access to digital technology and therefore, can be considered to be digitally excluded.
They are the over 65s, people with disabilities including learning disabilities, and people who do not speak English as a first language. We will also be conducting research with people who have diabetes, as well as interviewing staff from a GP practice in each area. The project aims to explore the experiences of both staff and patients in primary care settings in using digital technology to carry out appointments, WITH THE Covid-19 lockdowns being the catalyst.
The project aims to understand:
· If patients were given a choice in how their appointments were conducted.
· What the barriers and opportunities are from appointments being carried out digitally?
· How experiences of using digital appointments could be improved?
· What support could make a difference to people being able to use digital appointments?
· Did the move to digital appointments impact on whether people tried to access primary care during the Pandemic?
The output from the project will be a final report for the nine ECS Healthwatch that will be shared with Healthwatch England to be included in their national engagement report.
The project aims to see the results from this research project being used by each of our local Healthwatch teams to open up discussions with NHS Health and Social Care providers in their local areas to identify recommendations and improvements that were revealed due to the Covid-19 experience.
Work is currently underway and all interviews with participants is being conducted in a Covid-19 safe way, having been risk assessed and being guided by HSE guidance, along with guidance from the Market Research Society. The final report is due to be published in July 2021.
Any enquiries about this project, please contact deborah.faulks@weareecs.co.uk
February 2021