Welcome to our August newsletter
This month our newsletter includes:
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The UK autumn booster campaign for COVID-19 starts in September, but how will people behave compared to previous COVID vaccination programmes?
Evidence suggests a gradual decrease in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, stressing the potential need for periodical booster shots. However, it is hard to tell whether previously applied policies for enhancing vaccine acceptance will be as effective for repeated periodical booster shots.
In July 2022 an Imperial College London (ICL) report compiled survey data on almost half a million people across nine countries to investigate two years of changing behaviours and attitudes during COVID-19. Surveys investigated whether public health measures and guidelines would be effective at curbing the virus’ spread and how restrictions might impact individuals and society more widely...
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Healthwatch Reports and Publications
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Staff and Sussex Patients Views on Access to GP-Led Services
Local Healthwatch have been listening to people’s experiences of accessing GP led services and we have also been listening to the staff who have been working in GP practices through the pandemic.
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Working collaboratively with NHS GPs, practice staff, commissioners and local people, we co-designed surveys of NHS staff and the public to gather views and experiences of accessing GP led services during the last 6 months of 2021.
We heard:
- Long telephone queues are frustrating, especially when having to try to get through multiple times
- Due to long telephone queues, often the ‘on-the-day’ appointment allocations were already gone, resulting in having to call back the next day
- There were mixed reactions over telephone consultations – some preferring the efficiency and immediacy of them, whilst others question the diagnostic effectiveness of speaking over the phone
- Many staff expressed feeling tired, overstretched, and frustrated, but also proud of the way they have adapted and delivered services throughout the pandemic.
A response has been obtained from NHS Commissioners to these findings and is included in the report.
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Experiences on NHS 111 vary significantly says new Healthwatch report
We asked the public in East Sussex about their experiences of using NHS 111 and also made visits to NHS 111 call centres to better understand how they operate.
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We heard and observed that:
- Callers appreciated staff being calm, friendly and receptive to their situation, especially when other services were challenging to access
- Limited capacity at peak times could lead to long delays in getting through to a call handler and call backs from a clinician, which is frustrating for both callers and staff
- Callers and other services aren’t always clear on what NHS 111 can and cannot do, leading to a disconnect between expectations and what can be delivered
- Many callers end up being referred to GPs, pharmacists and Emergency Departments which are services they were trying to avoid using
Read what we heard from the public, what we observed and heard in our visits to NHS 111 call centres and what the provider of NHS 111 in Sussex told us about their plans for developing services in our report.
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Healthwatch Poll: Tell us your experiences of feeding back on health and care
- Have you left feedback on a health or care service in the last 12 months?
- Have you been asked to do so?
- Did leaving feedback lead to a positive change?
We want to understand people's experiences of sharing feedback on health and care services.
We'll share the results in our next newsletter.
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Results for our July Poll
In our July newsletter we asked you about your recent experiences of contacting your GP surgery.
Approximately half of the respondents (55.2%) told us they had experienced significant or moderate delays when contacting their GP, but were able to access the GP service eventually.
Worryingly, one-in-five people (20.7%) told us they had been unable to contact their GP surgery and had taken no other action about their health condition or need.
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Healthwatch seeks experiences of Long COVID
Healthwatch in Sussex has launched a survey to capture residents’ experiences of Long COVID.
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If you have experienced ongoing symptoms (for examples click here) of COVID-19 for longer than 4 weeks, please complete our short survey and tell us:
• What the impact of Long COVID has been on you?
• Whether health and care services met your needs?
• How you feel support for those with Long COVID could be improved?
The survey is open until the midnight on Sunday 18th September 2022 and all responses will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Healthwatch will share the findings with decision-makers, commissioners and service providers to help inform delivery of health and care services in Sussex.
For more information click here
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Healthwatch presents achievements to East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board
On the 19th July, Healthwatch presented our 2021-22 Annual Report ‘Championing What Matters to You’ to the East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board. We also shared our ideas for our work in the year ahead, including our 2022 Eastbourne Listening Tour which is scheduled for the last two weeks of October.
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This provided an overview of our activity and achievements during the last year, ranging from our work on access to GPs and dentists, to webinars on care home visiting, work on the wellbeing of emergency and temporary accommodation residents and the formation of Young Healthwatch.
You can see a recorded webcast of our presentation at the meeting, together with feedback from our NHS and local authority partners here. The webcast also includes the release of the East Sussex Director of Public Health’s Annual Report ‘Work, Skills and Health’.
Health and Wellbeing Boards are a committee of the local authority charged with promoting greater integration and partnership between bodies from the NHS, public health and local government, including Healthwatch.
The Kings Fund have a useful explainer on their role which is available here.
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Adult Social Care 'Living Well in East Sussex' survey
East Sussex County Council and local partners are developing a new strategy which will describe the priorities for Adult Social Care in East Sussex and provide direction for services, staff and stakeholders.
To understand what really matters to local people, and so that the strategy can be informed and led by what is important to people who need care and support, their unpaid carers and their families, the adult social care team has created the ‘Living Well in East Sussex’ survey.
To have your say please complete the 'Living Well in East Sussex' survey here.
Completing the survey also brings a chance to win one of four Love2Shop vouchers, each with a face value of £25.
Deadline: 18th September.
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NHS England has published the NHS plan for improving Long COVID services.
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The plan provides an update on progress on the 10 actions set out in June 2021 and outlines the framework for deploying the £90m committed by the NHS for Long COVID services during the 2022/23 financial year.
To read the NHS plan for improving long COVID services, please click here.
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Healthwatch England finds disabled people being blocked from NHS care due to poor communications
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As part of their 'Your Care, Your Way' campaign run between March and May 2022, research by Healthwatch England and partner organisations shows that not all health and care providers are compliant with the Accessible Information Standard, with many services overlooking people's needs and failing to provide the right support.
In response, detailed policy recommendations aimed at ensuring that people who have communication needs are given their healthcare information in the way they need it are made in four areas:
1. Accountability
2. Guidance & commissioning
3. Training & education
4. Information systems
To find out more about the findings and the recommendations please click here.
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Share your experiences of audiology services in Sussex
Sussex NHS is reviewing the current support available around audiology services and would like to capture people's experiences of using the Community Adult Audiology Service to help improve patient experience in the future.
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The Community Adult Audiology Service is for adults aged over 55+ who are experiencing difficulties with their hearing and problems with hearing-related communication, providing hearing assessments and care, including the testing of hearing aids to help reduce these difficulties.
You can get involved and share your experiences via their survey here.
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