News and reports

In November we carried out a project looking at Cancer services in and around Sandwell. We wanted to find out what was going well and what people think need improvements. We spoke with people who had accessed cancer services in the last 18 months, this included people who were currently receiving treatment as well as those who had completed treatment and were accessing support.

We recently conducted an Enter and View visit that looks at the experience of people with dementia and their carers/friends on an elderly care hospital ward at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH).

MMUH was developed to replace and consolidate services previously provided at Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital, bringing emergency and specialist care into a single modern facility. Its new emergency department now serves as the primary A&E site for the area.

Our Enter and View visit focused on The Poplars Nursing Home, owned by The Poplars Care & Support Services Limited.

The Poplars Nursing Home is a large, family-run care facility located at 66 South Road, Smethwick, West Midlands, B67 7BP. It provides accommodation and nursing care for up to 58 residents, catering to both older adults (65+) and younger adults with a range of needs including dementia, physical disabilities, and chronic health conditions.

This project is looking at the experiences of people from vulnerable and marginalised groups who reside in Sandwell wayfinding around the hospital.

Why the views of People who are Visually Impaired / Blind Matter?

Sandwell MBC had 951 people registered as sight impaired as of February 2025. According to RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) statistics, Sandwell would be expected to have an estimated 9,150** adult residents living with some level of sight loss.

We visited MMUH to listen to the patient experience and hear what users had to say.

The Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) opened on 6 October 2024.
With such a huge change in patient service delivery locations, there are challenges for patients, visitors, and staff wayfinding around the hospital. The usefulness and effectiveness of hospital signage is a key part of the experience people receive.

This report evaluates patient experience of a knee arthroplasty, referred to as total knee replacement (TKR) if the whole joint is replaced, or partial knee replacement (PKR)/unicompartmental knee replacement if only part of the joint is replaced.
This is an operation where the damaged parts of the knee joint are replaced with artificial components (prosthesis)

Our role is to understand what matters most to our community and to make recommendations that help improve care and support for everyone.
This short report focuses on carers in Sandwell. By listening to their stories, we gain valuable insight into the challenges they face, the support they value, and the improvements that could make a difference.

Part of Healthwatch Sandwell remit is to carry out Enter and View visits. Healthwatch Sandwell Authorised Representatives (AR) will conduct these visits to health and social care premises to find out how they are being run and make recommendations where there are areas for improvement.

Our Insight Report is now LIVE! See what the team have been doing during April - June this year!

The Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) opened on 6 October 2024.
With such a huge change in patient service delivery locations, there are challenges for patients, visitors and staff wayfinding around the hospital. The usefulness and effectiveness of hospital signage is a key part of the experience people receive.
The term wayfinding describes the processes people go through to find their way round an environment. The wayfinding process is fundamentally problem-solving and is affected by many factors, people’s perception of the environment, the wayfinding information available, their ability to orientate themselves spatially, and the cognitive and decision-making processes they go through, all affect how successfully they find their way.”

Healthwatch Sandwell held a focus group to understand how their stakeholders perceive Healthwatch Sandwell and the delivery of the service. The discussion was based upon the five values that were developed by Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch aim to embody. Stakeholders were invited by email to take part in the online focus group and this report outlines the themes from the discussion that took place.

This report evaluates patience experiences across three separate visits at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital to:
➢ The Main Emergency Department (ED)
➢ The Children's Emergency Department (CED)