COVID-19: What people have been telling Healthwatch in England

Healthwatch England, the national body, has outlined the issues people have been raising about NHS and social care services, and has looked into at how technology has been used in response to the pandemic.

The latest national briefing reveals how at the start of the lockdown in April, people said  that measures introduced to help control the spread of coronavirus were affecting their care, including changes to routine and planned care, shielding measures and access to prescription medicines.

Echoing the findings of Healthwatch North Yorkshire’s recent briefing COVID-19 in North Yorkshire: March-July 2020, Healthwatch England has highlighted the need for clear, accurate and consistent information about people’s care and the services they use.

As lockdown restrictions began to ease, people raised questions with Healthwatch about how services can reopen safely, reported problems using services that are supposedly already open for business and expressed frustration at some NHS services being slow to reopen compared to other areas of the economy.

While some people found visiting a COVID-19 testing centre easy, we also heard that the online booking process was difficult to use and there were concerns about the accessibility of testing centres.

Digital appointments

People have also been talking about a lack of accessible information, issues with emergency dental care, access to B12 injections and care homes, alongside the hidden effect on families and carers and people’s mental health. Health and social care workers were singled out for praise and appreciation.

The pandemic has seen the digitisation of many health and social care services overnight.

While digital appointments don’t work for everyone, and services should not be exclusively digital, it’s important healthcare services embrace technology for those who find it an efficient way to communicate.