Help us make sure more people get healthcare information in the way they need it. People want clear, understandable information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health and care in other to get the most out of services. For example, without proper communication support during GP or hospital appointments patients and their families can suffer psychologically with long-term consequences for their health and welfare.
Read MoreSince COVID-19 struck, the work of the Healthwatch network to support and listen to local people became more crucial than ever. An extraordinary and productive year when reflecting on last year, it is satisfying to recognise how much our network of Local Healthwatchs has achieved despite the pandemic. Our staff has been wonderfully flexible, diverting their energy to projects that helped our partners in health and social care respond to the needs of local people, despite the restrictions.
Read MoreMEN are being encouraged to talk to their friends about their feelings, as part of a campaign that aims to tackle the high levels of male suicide across Leicester and Leicestershire.
A total of 455 deaths by suicide in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland were recorded between January 2015 and June 2021. Of these, 353 were males, which represents 75.1% of all deaths.
Read MoreWe have an exciting opportunity for an Advocate to join our team covering Halton and Warrington. Your role will require you to travel to locations such as hospitals and care homes across the area to meet with clients and professionals and be home-based for administrative tasks. Part-time Advocates will work 18.5 hours a week, between Monday and Friday 9 am - 5 pm.
Read MoreAccess to NHS dental care continues to be a problem for people across the East Midlands, with Healthwatch Leicester and Healthwatch Leicestershire recording a rise in calls and complaints about dentistry over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our latest report on Dentistry (Coming soon) Highlights the issues patients are facing.
Read MoreWe are looking for an enthusiastic, experienced, and self-motivated Volunteer Coordinator to oversee our Healthwatch Volunteers across all areas of Leicestershire. Working flexibly from both a home base and out of our central office in Leicester city centre, with the need to travel extensively throughout Leicestershire, the Volunteer Coordinator will work closely with all teams across Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire to ensure volunteer roles are fulfilled and effective in achieving our strategic aims
Read MoreOne of our “Core Values” is “giving back”- we share our successes by giving back to the community around us – to people who can use the help. As a part of this endeavor, ECS supports the UK government Kickstart Scheme, by helping young people into employment, develop their skills & employability, and hopefully move into exciting new careers.
Read MoreWe found that most people had experienced telephone consultations and that they were not given a choice in the type of appointments that they received; there was a strong preference for face-to-face appointments as people felt more comfortable seeing someone face-to-face or felt that the quality care would be better if they were seen in-person.
Read MoreWe are currently recruiting families and loved ones to share their experiences and ideas with us and guide the development and implementation of the new strategy. Now we are working closely with Barnardo's, Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT), and other Family Intervention Teams so that we can attend visitor centres, family meetings, and family days to engage with families. We are also planning to hold regular Family Forum meetings for each site with the first meetings being planned for January 2022.
Read MoreThe network of ECS Healthwatch offices will close from 5pm on Thursday 23rd December 2021. Offices will reopen for business as usual on Wednesday 29 December, but you can still get in touch by sharing your experience of local health and social care services on our websites, completing our online form, or sending us an email, and we will reply as soon as possible once we’re back in the office in January.
Read MoreGary has been appointed as Chair and brings with him a wealth of experience from more than 40 years of working in Warrington as a journalist and managing director of a family business, while taking on various roles in the town, including being a long-serving trustee at Warrington Disability Partnership and a director of Warrington & Vale Royal Chamber of Commerce.
Read MoreThis year, on International Day of People with Disabilities we are recognising that those with disabilities are among the most affected populations, where discrimination and vulnerability can be everyday factors for some.
According to the WHO World Report on Disability, 15 percent of the world’s population, or more than 1 billion people, are living with a disability. Of this number, it’s estimated 450 million are living with a mental or neurological condition.
Read MoreThe context for this study was the increasing number of suicides in males year on year since 2013. Nationally the death by suicide figures reached a peak in 2019 with a death rate of 5,691 equating to 11 deaths per 100,000 population. The suicide rate for men is three times higher than that of women and this has been a consistent trend going back to the 1990s The figures for suicides in Leicester/ Leicestershire are consistent with the national picture and the gender split of 75% male to 25% female also mirrors national trends.
Read MoreWe have many long-established military communities in many of the areas where we deliver our services, and we want to do our best to ensure that military personnel and their families can share their views on services and can get their voices heard through our delivery of Healthwatch. As an organisation, we want to show a commitment to supporting staff in the armed forces, veterans, and their families in any way we can.”
Read MoreOur ICAS service was contacted by Mrs. E as she had sent a letter of complaint to the trust on behalf of her late father. Mrs. E was confused by the complaints system and asked for support from an advocate. Mrs. E and her advocate discussed her concerns, and the advocate supported Mrs. E to draft a letter of complaint to the hospital.
Read MoreEdgar (not her real name) was in his 90s and living in his own home. He was referred to the advocacy service in relation to a section 42 inquiry under the care act. He met the criteria as she was assessed as having ‘substantial difficulty’ (by the referrer) and with no one appropriate or willing to assist him to consider the safeguarding concerns and any outcomes he wanted from the enquiry.
Read MoreAdvocacy Awareness week emphasises that stories such as the elderly gentleman, young mum, and the young man are sadly not unique. Hence the need for advocates to challenge unlawful decisions on behalf of the human rights of the most vulnerable in our society is ever-present.
Read MoreWe Successfully renewed our Cyber Essentials certification the leading UK Govt endorsed Security industry certification – Cyber Essentials certification – awarded after a rigorous technical review of our company’s security processes, platform and successfully providing evidence and demonstrating our security compliance against different risk and threat vulnerabilities.
Read MoreDue to the Coronavirus Pandemic 2020 – 2021 has required significant digital adaptation to ensure our community outreach and engagement, signposting, advice and information and priority work were connective with the public across the network of nine ECS Healthwatch in across, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Halton, Warrington, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Leicester, and Leicestershire during COVID-19 pandemic, about the improvements people would like to see to health and social care services.
Read MoreAs a Community Interest Company, we are committed to giving back to the local community, either through donations, grants or through giving our time volunteering. On 8 and 9 July 2021, the staff and volunteer team at Healthwatch Wolverhampton joined up with the Canal and Rivers Trust to volunteer their time by spending two days tidying up a stretch of canal and its overgrown pathways around Coxwell Avenue and opposite the Science Park.
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