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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board (HAB) Public Meeting
Held on Thursday 9th January 2020 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
Central Avenue, Tipton, Sandwell
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The Black Country Family Practice is situated in Tipton area of Sandwell. It provides care for 14,000 patients. -
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Horseley Heath Medical Centre is situated in Tipton area of Sandwell. They also have another surgery, Tandon Medical Centre in Upper Gornal. They see 11,400 patients across the two practices. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board (HAB) Public Meeting.
Held on Tuesday 10th March 2020 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
Central Avenue, Tipton, Sandwell
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If you are experiencing or feel at risk of domestic abuse, or are worried about someone who might be, find out where you can go for advice and help. -
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In total HWS engaged with 68 people, the findings from both surveys have been amalgamated for this report -
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When deaf patients persevere with the consultation without a BSL interpreter it invariably results in misinformation and then misdiagnosis. -
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The work that Healthwatch Sandwell has undertaken over the last year was driven by the determination to make a difference and this report highlights where we have achieved this. For example:
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From April 2020 to June 2020 HWS undertook a focused piece of work to establish the overall picture of the GP services on offer in Sandwell in the early phases of Covid-19 and the patients experiences of the GP services. -
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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. -
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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. -
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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. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board
Day 12 October 2020 – Virtual Meeting MS Teams
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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Microsoft Teams Virtual Meeting 12th October 2020
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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: -
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This project engaged with young people through the use of a survey and a series of focus groups. -
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Many people who provide unpaid care are unaware of their rights. Find out more about the help and support you are entitled to. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board
Decision making Policy (DMP) – Escalation report
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Healthwatch Sandwell Advisory Board
Decision Making Policy (DMP) – Breach report
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Communication needs due to a disability, sensory loss or an impairment are covered under the Equality Act 2020 and the NHS Accessible Information Standard (2016) which states that NHS funded health and social care providers must meet the information and communication needs of people who access services. Communication should be undertaken in ways that meet identified needs and information should be provided in formats that are clear and easy to understand. -
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The purpose of the visit was to observe the environment and explore first-hand with customers their experiences of using Duggals Chemist.
HWS wanted to find out customers’ experiences of the pharmacy service, this included why they visit the pharmacy and what support they get from the pharmacy including and how they are treated.
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Healthwatch Sandwell is your independent consumer champion for health and social care services in Sandwell. Our job is to champion the consumer interests of those using the services and give local people an opportunity to speak out about their concerns. We listen to views, concerns, and compliments about services to help shape and improve them so that people are accessing the most quality and appropriate care. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell (HWS) frequently hear from Sandwell residents about frustrations with trying to access and obtain appointments at their G.P. practices, especially regarding phone queueing systems, and public perception that premises are no longer open for face-to-face services.
The HWS project aimed to:
• explore the issues for patients with access to G.P. practice
appointments
• gauge public awareness and uptake of other primary care service
options
• gather a picture on the operation of primary care services in
Sandwell.
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Covid-19 and roll out of the vaccination programmes has impacted nationally on delivery of primary care services. Service changes have included minimisation of face-to-face patient engagement which effectively supported implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan 2019 “digital first”1 agenda for primary care. Sandwell is ranked as the 12th most deprived local authority area nationally for indices of multiple deprivation with a lower-than-average life expectancy and higher than average health inequalities and mortality rate in under 75-year olds.
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Digital skills levels, digital poverty, and an increasing ethnically diverse population
with some language barriers present challenges with access and receipt of
health and care which services need to consider. -
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The Pharmacy First service is available for patients registered with practices in the Black Country and West Birmingham.
If you are exempt from prescription charges then you can access this service which gives you over-the-counter medicines rather than you needing to see a GP to receive the medication on a free prescription. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell have a legal power (Health and Social Care Act 2012) for Authorised Representatives to visit health and social care services and see them in action. This power to Enter and View services offers a way for Healthwatch to meet some of their statutory functions and allows them to identify what is working well with services and where they could be improved. -
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Do you want to contribute to maintaining the standards of excellence in local health and social care? Apply to become a Healthwatch Sandwell Health Advisory Board Member. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell have worked directly with residents with disabilities, impairments or sensory loss, families, carers, and local community support organisations to look at and identify the key issues where services are failing to meet people’s accessible information and communication needs and provides guidance and suggestions on what could work to better meet needs. -
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NHS health and social care services care are legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard 2016. This includes doctors, dentists, hospitals, pharmacies and social workers. The Standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss. Healthwatch Sandwell have explored with people with disabilities, sensory loss, or impairments
whether health and social care services are meeting their information and communication needs as required under the Accessible Information Standard 2016. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell listen to what people say about their health and care services.
We tell health and care services what people said and how they can make things better. -
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NHS health and social care services care are legally required to follow the Accessible Information Standard 2016. This includes doctors, dentists, hospitals, pharmacies and social workers.
The Standard sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
Healthwatch Sandwell have explored with people with disabilities, sensory loss, or impairments whether health and social care services are meeting their information and communication needs as required under the Accessible Information Standard 2016. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell is your independent consumer champion for health and social care services in Sandwell. Our job is to champion the consumer interests of those using the services and give local people an opportunity to speak out about their concerns. We listen to views, concerns, and compliments about services to help shape and improve them so that people are accessing the most quality and appropriate care. -
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Healthwatch England published the second piece of research on GP referrals, which was based on the experiences of 1,518 people who have asked for a GP referral for tests, diagnosis or treatment. Nearly one in five (18%) of those people required four or more GP appointments to get a referral. Healthwatch England have called on decision makers to do more to understand the referral process eg. collect national data, and to improve communication with patients.
They secured an exclusive article with the Times to highlight the issue of referral delays. -
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Hello May,
Healthwatch Sandwell latest ebulletin. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell will be visiting premises throughout 2023. Keep up to date on the latest Enter and View reports on our website or following us on socials media! -
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9.9% of the Sandwell population have diabetes, which is higher than the National average at 7.1%. and the West Midlands at 8%. NHS G.P. Practice data 2020-21 for Sandwell indicates an overall upward trend. Sandwell also performs poorly on inter-related health conditions, has lower healthy life expectancy and higher mortality rates from preventable deaths. (Sandwell Trends - Public Health England statistics)
Healthwatch Sandwell would like to collaborate with health, care and support services to ensure patients voices are heard. To help inform and improve services Healthwatch Sandwell would like to hear from Sandwell residents living with diabetes. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell (HWS) have the power to visit health and social care services, where health and social care is publicly funded and delivered. This power to Enter and View services offers a way for HWS to meet some of their statutory functions and to collect evidence of what works well. HWS use this evidence to make recommendations to commissioners and providers of health and social care services and to inform changes both for individual services as well as system wide and to improve people’s experiences. -
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Information for our Health Advisory Board Meeting to be held 4th July 2023. -
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Healthwatch Sandwell is your local health and social care champion. We make sure NHS leaders and decision makers hear your voice and use your feedback to improve care. We can also help you to find reliable and trustworthy information and advice.
Over the past year we have published 22 reports, engaged with 2,043 people and visited six towns of Sandwell delivering our Guided By You workshops.