0300 777 6543 April 2014 Telephone - 0300 777 6543 www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk Have your say on local GP services Healthwatch Halton has just launched a survey to find out the experiences of local people using GP Practices and the Out of Hours service in Halton during the past 12 months. The information provided will help identify if there are ways that services can be improved and also highlight where services are already working well. Dave Wilson, Healthwatch Halton Communication Officer, explained why the survey is being carried out: “There has been a lot of negative coverage in the national media recently about GP appointment bookings. We want to get feedback of how it really is for people across Halton.” A copy of the survey is included with this newsletter. The survey can also be completed online at http://bit.ly/1oESVQU Copies of the survey are also available from the Healthwatch Halton offices at Sefton House, Public Hall Street, Runcorn or by calling 0300 777 6543 The survey ends on Tuesday May 20th. Since January this year, Irene Bramwell, our outreach officer has been actively engaging with members of our Polish community who meet weekly at the Kingsway Learning Centre in Widnes. The group meets to provide an opportunity for Polish families and their children to socialise, engage in English lessons, access advocacy on a wide range of issues, engage in Healthwatch activities and share their experiences. Irene has been ably supported in her work by one of our Healthwatch Halton volunteers, Hubert Gabryszewski, a polish resident, who helps with translation and interpretation. During February and March, Irene has visited Halton College on a regular basis, speaking with different groups of students and getting their experiences of using local services During the visits a number of students have expressed an interest in volunteering opportunities with Healthwatch. We’ll be working with the college over the next 12 months to give as many of them as possible the opportunity to get involved. Healthwatch in the Community
Healthwatch Halton has just launched a survey to find out the experiences of local people using GP Practices and the Out of Hours service in Halton during the past 12 months.
The information provided will help identify if there are ways that services can be improved and also highlight where services are already working well.
Dave Wilson, Healthwatch Halton Communication Officer, explained why the survey is being carried out:
“There has been a lot of negative coverage in the national media recently about GP appointment bookings. We want to get feedback of how it really is for people across Halton.”
A copy of the survey is included with this newsletter.
The survey can also be completed online at http://bit.ly/1oESVQU
Copies of the survey are also available from the Healthwatch Halton offices at Sefton House, Public Hall Street, Runcorn or by calling 0300 777 6543
The survey ends on Tuesday May 20th.
Since January this year, Irene
Bramwell, our outreach officer
has been actively engaging with
members of our Polish community
who meet weekly at the Kingsway
Learning Centre in Widnes.
The group meets to provide an
opportunity for Polish families and
their children to socialise, engage
in English lessons, access advocacy
on a wide range of issues, engage
in Healthwatch activities and
share their experiences. Irene has
been ably supported in her work
by one of our Healthwatch Halton
volunteers, Hubert Gabryszewski,
a polish resident, who helps with
translation and interpretation.
During February and March,
Irene has visited Halton College
on a regular basis, speaking with
different groups of students and
getting their experiences of using
local services
During the visits a number
of students have expressed
an interest in volunteering
opportunities with Healthwatch.
We’ll be working with the college
over the next 12 months to give
as many of them as possible the
opportunity to get involved.
Healthwatch in the Community
Around 226 operations already take place at Halton Hospital every week, and this is expected to reach 12,000 by the end of the year.
Two new urgent care centres at Halton Hospital and Widnes Walk-in Centre - set to open in September - will see more people than ever before treated on their own doorstep.
Mel Pickup, chief executive of of Halton and Warrington NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Every elective operation should be done at Halton irrespective of where patients live, unless they have other illnesses or problems which may require intensive care back
up.
“We are going to take more general surgery, urology, and gynaecology. Orthopaedic surgery is already carried out at the treatment centre.
“Halton has always enjoyed a very good reputation in terms of patient experience and feedback.”
She said there will be far less likelihood of operations being cancelled by emergencies which will be handled in Warrington.
Casualties with hand or wrist injuries, sent home until swellings go down, can now have surgery at Halton.
New diagnostic services will be available in the autumn to treat
elderly patients with heart and respiratory conditions.
Ms Pickup added: “We will be gearing up Halton to become a much more robust facilitiy for the treatment of more complicated patients.
“We, as an acute hospital, have a lot to offer in providing community services.”
Their work on mapping the complaints landscape has shown a staggering 75 types of organisations in England have a role in complaints handling and support, from councils and CCGs locally to national regulators.
According to Healthwatch England, the concerns of users and worried family members looking to complain about the service they have received are going unheard because the current system is simply too complex.
The failure of the complaints system is being compounded by the lack of consistent and easy to access complaints support services. Whilst NHS advocacy is fragmented, with the level of service varying across the country, advocacy for complaints in care is almost non-existent.
Anna Bradley, Chair of Healthwatch
England, said:
“It’s no wonder the public are left
confused and frustrated. With so
many organisations involved it’s
difficult to know where to start,
let alone having the strength and
persistence to navigate the system
on your own.
“A key improvement would be a
straightforward and independent
advocacy service to provide the
support people need to make their
voices heard.”
Halton Hospital to become ‘a more robust facility’
Health and care complaints system is ‘utterly bewildering’
Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS FT have announced that all planned surgery will now be carried out in Runcorn unless patients have underlying health problems which may need intensive care.
The complaints system for the NHS in England is “hopelessly complicated” and needs an overhaul, according to Healthwatch England.
What do you think of the NHS Complaints system?
Do you find the NHS complaints system ‘confusing’ and ‘bewildering’ or do you know just exactly what to do and how best to complain?
Healthwatch Halton would like to hear your opinion.
You can also give us feedback online through our website by visiting
www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk/your-say
Over 60 people came along to the Select Security Stadium, on Monday 17th March, to attend the latest ‘Fact or Fiction’ event organised by Healthwatch Halton.
These events are held to help keep local people informed about local and national Health and Care issues.
The first speaker, Sarah Morley, from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) gave information on the Patient Transport Service (PTS) and the changes to the eligibility criteria for people needing to access PTS.
Sarah was followed by Hassan Argomandkhah, Chair of Pharmacy Local Professional Network. Hassan explained all about the ‘Call to Action’ campaign aimed at improving care through community pharmacies.
Janet King, Regional Head of Intelligence, NHS England (North), then gave a presentation on the Care.data programme and the reasons behind it.
Care.data is a programme whereby patient information is extracted from clinical records in order to support commissioning, planning and research. The programme is led by NHS England and managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
Completing a very packed, but enjoyable schedule, was Eileen O’Meara, Director of Public Health for Halton, who gave a talk on cancer screening programmes and why it’s vital to spot cancers early.
Question and answer sessions took place after each of the presentations. Feedback received from people attending the event has been overwhelmingly positive.
Copies of all presentations from the event are available on the Healthwatch Halton website, www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk
Fact or Fiction event helps to clear up myths
L-R: Hassan Argomandkhah, Janet King, Sarah Morley, Eileen O’Meara and Jim Wilson (Chair of Healthwatch Halton) A stitch in time really can save lives.
In the last couple of months,
people all over the country have
been knitting more than 8,000
red, woollen blood drops for NHS
Blood & Transplant and wondering
what on earth they planned to do
with them.
The 8,000 woolly blood drops
have become an urban tree art
form and raised awareness about
blood donation.
Residents have woken to find this
woolly street art adorning trees
in city centres and outside train
stations. A cheerful kind of knitted
graffiti. Urban art that makes you
smile, and wonder why.
The blood drops represent the
continued need for new donors.
NHS Blood & Transplant need
around 200,000 new donors each
year to keep blood stocks stable.
Can you help them?
For more information on the campaign, and how to register as a blood donor, visit
Online NewsletterDid you know that this newsletter is also available electronically?
If you would prefer to receive your Healthwatch Halton newsletter by email rather than through the post
please contact us on 0300 777 6543 and speak with a member of the Healthwatch Halton team.
Alternatively you can contact us via email, [email protected], giving us your
name and address details and we’ll update your details.
BrowseAloud helps to ensure that those who are hardest to reach are not excluded from accessing information on the website. It gives people access to a wide range of accessibility tools such as translation of 75 languages, 33 with a supported voice, a PDF reader, Text Magnifier, Simplifier, Screen Masking and the ability to save text to voice as mp3 files.
Claire McGinley, from BrowseAloud, gave an interactive demonstration of the benefits of BrowseAloud to attendees, including representatives from Halton & St Helens VCA, Halton Borough Council, Halton CCG,
Healthwatch Halton & Healthwatch
Knowsley together with members
of the local community and MP for
Halton, Derek Twigg.
Jim Wilson, Chair of Healthwatch
Halton, said, “A key role of
Healthwatch Halton is to enable
people to share views about
Halton’s health and social care
services to help build a picture of
where services are doing well, and
where they can be improved. To be
able to do this it is essential that we
are accessible to as many people
as possible, BrowseAloud helps us
to do this, as it’s easy to use and
free to use”.
On Friday 21st March, Healthwatch Halton held a short workshop at the Select Stadium, to officially launch BrowseAloud, an innovative reading support solution which has been added to its website, www.healthwatchhalton.co.uk
Healthwatch help to ease online access
L-R: Jim Wilson (Chair of Healthwatch Halton), Claire McGinley (BrowseAloud), Derek Twigg MP
