The public meeting, arranged by Healthwatch South Tyneside in response to queries raised by service users at its AGM last year, was held on Tuesday February 18 at the Learning Lounge at Hebburn Central.
The first guest speaker Anna Hargrave, Divisional Director of the Division of Community Services, provided an overview of the Urgent Care in the Community service.
Her presentation covered Urgent Community Response, Virtual Wards (Hospital @ Home), Fast Track Palliative Care, Fast Track Discharge to Assess and the new Care Co-ordination Hub launching in April.
David Newell, Directorate Manager, introduced a presentation on mental health services by Clinical Team Managers Karen Kinghorn and Paula Wake, and Clinical Lead Lisa Mundell. It included how to access support through the Healthy Minds Team, Getting Help Children and Young People’s Mental Health team and through Adult Talking Therapies.
Nicola Price, Practice and Assurance Manager at South Tyneside Council, then shared an update on the support available through adult social services, including short-term and long-term care, assistive technology, transport and personal assistants.
Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session, giving members of the public an opportunity to ask questions.
Chair of Healthwatch South Tyneside, John Lowther, (pictured) said: “It was fantastic to see such a strong turnout from both the people of South Tyneside and borough healthcare professionals.
“It was a valuable opportunity for residents and healthcare professionals to collaborate, network and work together to improve and learn from health and social care services across South Tyneside.
“I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to all three of our guest speakers for their insightful and informative presentations. We are grateful to everyone who attended and contributed to the discussion, an excellent way to engage service users to provide the valuable feedback which influences the design of future services.”
Members of the public who attended left feedback which Healthwatch will use to help plan similar future events.
“It was a good event, with lots of information. I thought the three presentations re mental health just repeated themselves and why can’t there be just one telephone number to contact the service instead of different number, like the care in the community. Lots of information to take in. It was hard to stay focused so would suggest not as many speaker’s next time. Nice, comfortable venue with plenty of free parking spaces.”
“I attended a South Tyneside Healthwatch public meeting as a member of the public, and it was incredibly insightful. It was particularly pertinent to my current personal situation, as I was able to learn about various services that I wasn’t previously aware of. The event provided a great opportunity to highlight services that could be of real benefit to me and my family. One of the clinicians even took the time to speak with me personally after the presentation, which was a valuable opportunity. Their advice and the additional signposts they provided will help me better support my daughter moving forward.”
“The Healthwatch public meeting provided some high quality information on services and projects local to the area. People’s issues were listened to with respect and taken on board by the speakers. The venue was fine for the event with good access. The only minor change I would suggest would be to have probably one less speaker to retain public concentration throughout. I look forward to more events in the future very well organised by the team much appreciated.”
“I loved all the presentations, they all gave out so much information and were very clear and informative. Your hospitality was amazing.”
“Your Voice Counts are excellent in putting information in an Easy Read format. They do this for many voluntary and statutory organisations. I would encourage you to connect with the group.”
The presentations can be downloaded via the following links:
