Our impact - reaching out to our community
We strive to make sure we hear from as wide a range of our diverse community as possible. We want to tell the people who make decisions and change things about the experiences everyone has with health and care services.
We understand that factors such as culture, location, wealth, education, environment and discrimination can lead to worse health outcomes, and we support the strong consensus that this must change. At Healthwatch, we stand ready to help by doing more to amplify the voices of communities that go unheard and reduce the barriers they face.
A snapshot of our impact
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We worked together with the NHS to support their review of urgent care services in Scarborough, Selby, and Malton. This involved hearing first hand experiences and suggestions to improve services at urgent treatment centres and GP out of hours services.
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Our digital access report highlighted the benefits and challenges that people face in using and accessing digital care.
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We highlighted the affect that the cost-of-living crisis was having on people’s health and well-being across North Yorkshire.
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People living in our rural areas are struggling to get the care they need - so we've called on North Yorkshire Council, the NHS and social care providers to do more to break down barriers and ensure care is for everyone.
Making a difference to our local community
Fairer NHS dentistry
People across the country tell us they can't find an NHS dentist, and paying for dental care is a struggle, leaving them in pain. This issue has hit people on low incomes hardest. We are determined to keep this issue front and centre. Our work to highlight public concern has received widespread media coverage and helped to secure changes which the NHS will be introducing soon.
Making information more accessible
Sharing the views and experiences of people who need information in different formats is something we regularly come up against. Many people are not getting information from GPs, hospitals, dentists, care providers and others in formats that meet their needs. What is being done about it?
North Yorkshire Council promises social care improvements
Social care is in desperate need of reform and we have successfully moved this issue up the political agenda both locally and nationally to help bring about improvements in workforce, funding and services.
More consistency in NHS maternity services in Harrogate
Feedback about the maternity unit was positive and appreciative, however people have highlighted the issues of not seeing the same healthcare professional and the impact this is having. We have been hearing what Harrogate Hospital are doing about this.
Working to make mental health services better
A lack of access to mental health services and people’s poor experiences are something that we hear about on a regular basis. People have told us the challenges in receiving timely, person-centred and quality care. So we have asked for more to be done.
More talking and support when it comes to continence care
Incontinence affects millions of people in the UK, yet it is not being talked about enough. We have been seeking people's experiences to understand the impact on physical and mental health, available provisions, and areas that need improvement.
Our annual report
Our annual report summarises the experiences people have shared with us and highlights our actions in response. Take a look to see how people’s views are impacting decisions made by NHS and social care leaders.
Our impact this year - in numbers
5,314
People reached and who we spoke with and raised awareness about who Healthwatch are and how we can help them.
3,094
People shared their feedback about health and social care by phone, email, letter or face-to-face.