The latest from the Healthwatch Team

News - 1 February 2018

Here at Healthwatch we represent the views of the people that use health and social care services in our city. Here is an update on our current projects across a range of services within the sector.
photograph, side view looking to floor, close up of patient holding zimmer frame

The Healthwatch team are looking ahead to the new year and developing new project areas.  Research and programme results from 2017 projects are being finalised and analysed - look out for reports soon.

Here are some of our current priority areas:

Patient Transport Services - In December 2017, Healthwatch Sussex-wide repeated our Patient Transport Service (PTS) consumer survey to see what changes or improvements have occurred over the past few months, read all about it in our latest update here.

GP Review - The GP review is nearing completion and the team have been completing the analysis over the last month. A draft of the main report is now being shared with key stakeholders, for comment and review. Practices have already seen and responded to their individual surgery reports and a number of surgeries have taken action to improve services in response to our recommendations. Practices were widely appreciative of the input from Healthwatch, and they welcome the insight into how they were performing and what changes could be made to improve patient experience. We anticipate that all reports - the main report and 29 individual surgery reports - will be launched by March. Look out for the launch announcement on our website and in the next newsletter! The team would like to thank all volunteers who were involved in the project, and all those who took part in the questionnaires.

A&E review - Healthwatch are currently reviewing the Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) Accident and Emergency department, to survey patients and gain an insight into the service and facilities. The review of RSCH is bolstered by ongoing environmental audits which Healthwatch coordinate on a regular basis.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments - Research is currently being conducted to look into the experiences of those going through Personal Independence Payments and Employment Support Allowance assessments. Look out for updates in the next few months as results and analysis come together.

Frail elders - Following the learning group that was held in November, Healthwatch are putting together plans for a project that will focus on hospital discharge, the successes and challenges. Our objective is to find out some of the reasons behind patient readmission to hospital, and to see if there are things that can be done to prevent this. The project is currently in the planning stages and we hope to launch this in the next few months.