The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every walk of life. HWS had spoken to many of adults (aged 18+) who have had their support services disrupted or paused during the pandemic.
The target population in this project were homeless people in Sandwell. Homelessness has a number of guises, for the purpose of the project HWS engaged with those:
During the period July – September 2020 Healthwatch Sandwell has collated patient experiences. In addition, we have received service user experiences/feedback via our web-based ‘Feedback Centre’ and since its inception in July 2019 we have received over 220 experiences/comments shared across NHS and Social Care Services.
HWS in partnership with SDCA have created a focus group for deaf and hard of hearing people to share their health and social care experiences in Sandwell. Please find attached our report following a focus group held on the 22nd of September 2020.
With more and more appointments happening online, we've put together some tips on how to get the most out of the virtual health and care appointments both for patients and health and care professionals.