It details our work over the past year, including our reports on home care services, access to dentistry, access to mental health services for older people and a South Shields care home.
Highlights include:
- We met 30 dental patients, heard from 215 people in an online survey and spoke to four practice managers as part of a collaborative project with the regional Healthwatch network and
North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. - The Lodge care home pledged a number of improvements for residents after recommendations following an Enter and View visit and report.
- We made a series of recommendations to South Tyneside Council in our Help to Live at Home report, after hearing from 200 users of home care services and managers and staff of the four providers.
- Healthwatch South Tyneside was chosen by Healthwatch England to take part in nationwide survey work into issues faced by trans people when accessing non-transition related healthcare.
- North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board wanted to know if older people experienced ageist attitudes and assumptions about their mental health by GPs and asked Healthwatch South Tyneside to gather insights.
Looking ahead to 2025/26, our priority areas will include reviews of mental health services for both adults and young people and Pharmacy First
One of our favourite quotes in the report is from Vicki Pattinson, Director of Adult Social Services and Commissioning at South Tyneside Council, about our Help to Live at Home work.
She said: “The work Healthwatch have undertaken with people who draw upon care and support and the adult social care workforce employed within Help to Live at Home has provided valuable insights into the experiences of people using our services, helping us to build upon the positive aspects of the service but also identify areas for ongoing improvement.”
Read the full report here.
