Insight into your health and social care
Healthwatch North Yorkshire collects feedback from people who have spoken to us, met us events, or shared their stories through Care Opinion (a popular website for healthcare feedback in the UK). These logs offer a quick overview of both positive and negative experiences with health and care services in the county. The feedback covers a variety of services each month, including GPs, hospitals, social care, dental care, and mental health support, among others.
What the public told us
Here is a summary of feedback from the Healthwatch North Yorkshire report for July up to and including September 2024:
GP Services
General sentiment of feedback: 53% negative, 39% positive, 8% mixed or neutral.
Key issues: Difficulty accessing GPs, long phone wait times, lack of support for mental health and learning disabilities.
GP practices we heard about:
- Derwent Practice, Malton: Mixed feedback; issues with communication and blood test services.
- Spa Surgery, Harrogate: Mostly positive; praised for teamwork and efficient e-consult service.
- Beech Tree Surgery, Selby: Positive feedback on online consultation efficiency; long specialist wait times.
- Fisher Medical Centre, Skipton: Mixed feedback; issues with long wait times and lost online consultation answers.
Hospital Care
General sentiment of feedback: 27% positive, 63% negative, 10% mixed or neutral.
Key issues: Long wait times, poor communication, issues with hospital transport.
Hospitals we heard about:
- Harrogate Hospital: Mixed feedback; praised for staff attitudes but criticized for aftercare and long wait times.
- Scarborough Hospital: Mixed feedback; issues with communication and urgency, but praised for A&E efficiency.
- York Hospital: Mixed feedback; long wait times for A&E and specialist appointments, but positive feedback on treatment quality.
- James Cook Hospital: Negative feedback; issues with access and patient transport.
- Friarage Hospital: Mixed feedback; issues with transport and parking, but positive feedback on staff options for appointment locations.
Mental Health Services
General sentimentof feedback: Mostly negative.
Key issues: Long waiting lists, lack of support for families, repetitive and ineffective techniques.
Dentistry
General sentiment of feedback: Mostly negative.
Key issues: Difficulty accessing NHS dentists, long wait times, high costs for private care.
Other feedback
Weight management services: Negative feedback; generic advice not catering to individual needs, lack of accessibility for working individuals.
Want to read more?
What happens next?
We ask that service providers and planners mentioned in this report act on the feedback and let us know what they’ve done or plan to do to address the concerns raised.
We recognise the challenges healthcare workers face and will keep calling for more support for services, patients, and their families.
Our next report will cover the feedback from October up to and including December 2024.
