01 Sep

Get involved with #InspiringHope

10 September 2020 is World Suicide Prevention Day and 10 October 2020 is World Mental Health Day.

#InspiringHope – CNTW Foundation Trust want to mark these two important days by having a month of inspiring messages in between. They would like to hear from service users about what helped them out of their dark place, and in particular whilst socially isolating during lockdown. All contributors will be kept completely anonymous but they will share their messages across social media and online with the hashtag #InspiringHope

If you or someone you know would like to contribute, please contact: Involvement@cntw.nhs.uk

30 Aug

Healthwatch North Tyneside Zoom Mental Health Discussion Group – 2 September 2020

Healthwatch North Tyneside’s zoom mental health discussion group will take place on Wednesday 2nd September at 6pm.

Health and care services have been delivered in a significantly different way over lockdown and now more than ever as services are starting to open up again we are keen to hear what changes people would like to keep and what they don’t want to keep.  Any support you can offer in encouraging people to engage with us would be greatly appreciated.  To give feedback people can contact us via our website, email, phone or by texting ‘yes’ to 07593068477 and someone will call them back as soon as possible.  Alternatively people can click on the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/covid19experiences

Best wishes

Amanda

Amanda Graydon

A.Graydon@hwnt.co.uk

24 Aug

Healthwatch #BecauseWeAllCare Campaign – Call to action

Dear Colleague

We all care about our health and social care services.

That’s why we’re asking you to support the new campaign we are participating in, alongside Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission — #BecauseWeAllCare.

This encourages the public to share their experiences, both good and bad, to help improve services. As well as promoting the benefits of giving feedback and why it’s so important, it will also be an opportunity for you to collect people’s views on key local issues.

Why should you get involved?
As health and social care services work to provide the best possible care during COVID-19, public feedback can play a crucial role to help us identify and address issues that affect the quality of people’s care.

Together we can help services across Newcastle improve the care they provide now and in the future. We’re here to listen and act on public feedback to improve care for you and others – helping patients, key workers, and our communities.

How can you encourage people to share their experiences?
Support the campaign

  • Following an experience with a health or social care service, patients and carers can share their feedback – both positive and negative – with us or the CQC by completing an online form.
  • By encouraging your followers on social media to complete the survey healthwatch.co.uk/because-we-all-care
  • By retweeting or reposting content on social media wherever you see the #BecauseWeAllCare hashtag

Best wishes
The Healthwatch Newcastle team

info@healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk

20 Aug

Healthwatch North Tyneside News – 12 August 2020

Have your say on health and care services during coronavirus

Your views can help improve services

We want to hear your views and feedback on your health and care experiences during the coronavirus outbreak. As lockdown restrictions ease and NHS and other health and care services plan their delivery, we want to make sure local people’s voices are heard to help improve services for everyone who uses them.
Give your views online here or go to one of our surveys below to have your say.
You can also contact Healthwatch to ask for printed information and a freepost envelope or text or telephone 0191 263 5321 to arrange a call back from one of the Healthwatch team, Monday and Friday 10am to 3pm.

Online focus group – we are looking at new ways to hear your views and experiences and have arranged our first online focus group on Tuesday 18 August from 10 to 11.30am. If you are interested in joining the group please email info@hwnt.co.uk Look out for future events and surveys on our facebook and twitter pages.

Are you a carer?

To ensure carers’ views are taken into account, North Tyneside Carers’ Centre and Healthwatch North Tyneside want to hear about your experiences during the coronavirus outbreak. Find out more and have your say
 

Care homes

If you have a family member or friend in a care home in North Tyneside we want to hear your views and experiences at this crucial time. We want to hear about your experiences of care homes in the early stages of the pandemic, while the pandemic was at its height and more recently as care homes open up visiting.  Find out more and have your say
 

Experience of hospital discharge during the pandemic?

To make room for the sudden need for more beds as a result of the coronavirus, the NHS changed the way it discharged people from hospital. But what was your experience? We are working with Heathwatch England to gather people’s views and experiences of hospital discharge. Find out more and have your say

Can your organisation help?

If you are a local organisation, we want to hear how your clients have been affected by the changes in the way services are delivered and what key points you feel should be shared with decision makers to influence future service provision.
We are interested in gathering people’s feedback about health and care services generally rather than an evaluation of your organisation’s activities. Go to our online form

Have your say – go to our online contact forms and surveys

Accessing primary care – the future

What you said

We asked people in North Tyneside what they wanted to see in primary care services in the future. People told us about using digital technology to have some consultations and appointments as well as what they want to see in a triage process. Find out more
Go to our report ‘Accessing primary care – the future’

Join our Healthwatch team

Communications and Engagement Officer

We are looking for an experienced communications professional to lead our external communications activity including campaigns, marketing material and brand management, digital channels, media relations and networking.
Closing date for applications – Sunday 6 September.
Find out more about this job and download an application form.
 

Join our Board of Trustees

Can you use your knowledge and skills to help to improve health and social care services for people in North Tyneside?
We want to hear from anyone who wants to make a real difference to people’s lives in North Tyneside. You should have the skills and experience to help us deliver our aims and at least 3 hours a month available to volunteer with us. Find out more about this role

If you would like an informal discussion about either of these roles please contact Paul Jones on p.jones@hwnt.co.uk or 0191 263 5321.

Annual Report 2019/20

Last year 2,809 people told us about their experiences of health and care services

Our annual report includes lots of interesting information about our work and what we achieved before the coronavirus pandemic when we had to pause much of our activities and refocus. It also sets out our plans for the coming year.

To find out more you can watch our short film about what we did last year or download our full report

New website for Healthwatch

We’ve given our website a refresh

We hope you like it:

  • Have your say – links to all our surveys and ways to share your views and experiences
  • Information and advice – local service information, changes to services due to coronavirus and how to make a complaint. We will be developing this section over time to offer more information about health and care services
  • Our work – read about our current projects
  • About us – meet our team, volunteering, join our team, our priorities and future plans
  • Projects and reports hub  – new area where you can find all our reports and publications
  • Partners – find out how we work with other organisations to help improve services
  • News and events

Please let us know if you find any broken links, missing or out of date information and we will put it right as soon as we can, email info@hwnt.co.uk

20 Aug

Healthwatch Newcastle Newsletter – 12 August 2020

Help health and social care services recover from COVID-19

Our NHS and social care services are doing everything they can to support you and your loved ones but they need our help to know how they can improve.

New research from the Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch England shows that 57% of people in the North East say they are more likely to take steps to improve health and social care services since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Join our national campaign — #BecauseWeAllCare — and share your experience.

See how you can help at www.healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk/news/because-we-all-care

 

The Stars are out!

We are proud to recognise the contribution that people and organisations make to the success of social care and health services in our city. Congratulations to the following people and services, which have recently received a Healthwatch Star:

  • Barbara Chantler at St Anthony’s Health Centre, Walker, for going above and beyond when handling calls.
  • Comfort House Care Home for the incredible care of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Dr Owens and team at Denton Park Medical Group (pictured) for keeping patients at the core of their practice.
  • Mr Surash and Ward 15 at the RVI for respect and care for their patients.
  • The team at the Department for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the RVI for being leaders on the frontline in dealing with COVID-19, and their compassion and outstanding support for families.

Do you know a person or a service that shines? Why not nominate them for a Healthwatch Star so they receive the recognition they deserve.

Nominate your Healthwatch Star at www.healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk/nominate-a-star

 

Update from our Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

Jacqui Thompson, the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for Healthwatch Newcastle, has been getting to grips with her new role over the past few months while working from home.

Because all our outreach activities are currently suspended, she has been keeping in touch with our team of volunteer Champions by phone, email and regular Zoom meetings.

Read Jacqui’s blog at www.healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk/news/volunteering-and-outreach

 

Join our Healthwatch Committee

Would you like to help us fulfil our vision to be Newcastle’s independent and trusted voice for outstanding social care and health services for all?

We’re on the lookout for members to join our Healthwatch Committee. These are voluntary, unpaid roles although travel and carers’ expenses will be covered.

If you would like to discuss becoming a Committee member, please email Cynthia Atkin, Interim Operations Manager, at cynthia@healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk

 

Listen to us!

Enjoy this newsletter on the go by downloading our podcast at soundcloud.com/healthwatch-newcastle

 

Share your views on pharmacies and earn rewards!

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the regulator for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Great Britain. It is recruiting members of the public to join an online public panel to find out what people think about pharmacy services and the GPhC’s work.

As a panel member, you will be asked to complete different online activities like completing a survey or reading a short document and answering some questions. You may occasionally be invited to take part in other activities like phone interviews or attending a focus group.

You will receive online Love2Shop voucher codes for each activity as a thank you for participating. The amount received will depend on the type of activity and how long it takes. Activities will be offered on an ad-hoc basis. Sometimes the whole panel will be asked to participate, and sometimes a random sample or a targeted group, for example, people in a particular age group.

Join the panel by first completing a survey at https://surveys.pharmacyregulation.org/s/online-public-panel

Everyone who signs up receives £5 of vouchers after completing the first activity. Survey results will be anonymous and personal data will not be shared with any other organisations. You can withdraw from the panel at any time and your data will be deleted.

If you have any questions about joining the online panel email laura.oakley@pharmacyregulation.org

 

Flu vaccination: who should have it?

Every year, the NHS prepares for the unpredictability of flu. Flu is unpleasant but most healthy people usually recover within a week.

However, there is a particular risk of severe illness for some people. Vaccination offers the best protection. The list of those recommended to have the flu vaccine has been updated to include:

  • The main carer of an older or disabled person
  • A household contact of someone on the Shielded Patients List for COVID-19
  • A child aged 2 to 11 years old on 31 August 2020

Find out more at www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-flu-programme

07 Aug

Healthwatch North Tyneside – Share your health and care experiences during Coronavirus

We want to hear your views and feedback on your health and care experiences during the coronavirus outbreak.

As lockdown restrictions ease and NHS and other health and care services plan their delivery, we want to make sure local people’s voices are heard to help improve services for everyone who uses them.

The information you provide is anonymous and everyone who takes part can enter a free prize draw to win a £20 voucher.

You can share your views and experiences online or email info@hwnt.co.uk

You can also contact Healthwatch to ask for printed information and a freepost envelope or text or telephone 0191 263 5321 to arrange a call back from one of the Healthwatch team, Monday and Friday 9am to 3pm.