News
New £15 million grant scheme to improve mental healthcare
The Beyond Places of Safety fund will focus on improving urgent mental healthcare in local areas. The Department of Health has launched a £15 million...
Public Health Englang urges those at highest risk of flu to get vaccinated
'Stay Well This Winter' campaign launches to urge people who are most vulnerable to flu to get their free vaccination. People who are the most...
This Month's £25 Gift Voucher Winner!
The September winner is Paul Jobson from Concord in Washington. Our volunteers met Paul during their visit to the Galleries Health Centre where Paul...
State of Care - CQC's annual assessment of health and social care in England
This year, for the first time ever, you can look up the State of Care in your local area. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) interactive map links to individual reports that show hospital, GP practice and care home ratings by each local authority area. You can find links on the State of Care page on...
Government announces consultation on organ donation opt-out system
The Prime Minister has announced the intention to launch a public consultation on increasing rates of organ donation. The proposals will include a new opt-out system for organ donation for England. The consultation will be launched by the end of the year. The consultation will outline ways to...
General Practice is improving say CQC
The most detailed analysis yet of the quality and safety of general medical practice in England has found that nearly 90% of general practices in England have been rated as 'good', making this the highest performing sector CQC regulates. With GPs facing ongoing pressures around capacity, patient...
Sunderland Surgical Day Case Unit - make reasonable adjustments
We received this nomination for Star Service from Sunderland People First for the work the unit do to support people with learning disabilities or autism. So what was the reason for the nomination? Andy from Sunderland People First said "The support offered includes arranging pre-visits, making...
Equipment services - what's happening so far?
Healthwatch Sunderland are undertaking a piece of work to look into how Sunderland Care and Support's Community Equipment Services (CES) is working for its service users. This piece of work came about from the feedback that we had recently collated from our engagement work where we heard about some...
Next round of events for major NHS public consultation announced
Nine additional public consultation events to gather public and staff views around the different ways some aspects of hospital services could be arranged in South Tyneside and Sunderland have been announced. Called 'The Path to Excellence', the public consultation was launched on Wednesday 5 July...
NHS intensifies search for GPs
NHS England has published information about its work with partner organisations to expand the international recruitment programme for GPs. To meet the target set out in the GP Forward View, the programme is being brought forward by two years and proposals for the recruitment of an extra 601 doctors...
Public Health England campaigns for more physical activity
Public Health England has published a “framework” to promote awareness of the importance of physical activity. It is calling for action from providers and commissioners in health, social care, transportation, planning, education, sport and leisure, culture, the voluntary and community sector, as...
Sunderland Health Forum - New meeting dates!
Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) would like to invite you to their next Sunderland Health Forum The next Sunderland Health Forums will be taking place on: Wednesday 13th September 12-2pm – Bede Tower, Sunderland Thursday 14th September 6-8pm – Bede Tower, Sunderland (otherwise known as...
Local GP Practices go from strength to strength
PRESS RELEASE HEALTHWATCH SUNDERLAND Date: August 2017 Over the course of 2016 Healthwatch Sunderland began to see feedback from patients of both Harraton and Springwell House surgeries which indicated that they were experiencing some issues and had some concerns with the surgeries. We contacted...
Volunteers thanked at Queen's Award event
Healthwatch Sunderland Volunteers attended the Queen's Award celebration as a thanks for all the support they have given over the past year. Created by The Queen in 2002 to mark the occasion of her Golden Jubilee, the award this year was given to Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP), who Healthwatch...
5 minute appointment times
Here at Healthwatch Sunderland we increasingly hear from patients about the difficulty they have accessing GP appointments. Over period May 2016 —July 2017 we spoke to 1204 people about local services. Of these 263 people gave us negative feedback about their GP and 67% of them complained that they...
Equipment Services - we want your feedback!
Following discussions and feedback with some users of equipment services in our city, Healthwatch Sunderland would like to find out what you think of services. If you would like to share your feedback with us individually or as part of a group, please contact Anna or Wendy - we would love to hear...
Over 200 GPs closed or merged last year
Only eight GP practices were open last year in England, whilst 202 were either closed or merged, figures released by NHS Digital have shown. In the period between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017, it was also revealed that almost half (47%) of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) had seen practice...
Jo goes the extra mile
Congratulations to Jo West, Nurse Practitioner at Wearside Medical Practice who has been awarded a Healthwatch Sunderland Star Award for all the positive feedback we have received from her patients! Feedback included: "Very professional and helpful always has time for you." "Excellent, nothing is...
Using your local pharmacy consultation 2017
Survey closing date: midnight on 31 July 2017 Sunderland Partnership want to ensure that your local pharmacy provides the service you need now and in the future. You can help them by answering a few questions about the way you use pharmacies. Your response will help them to write a local...
New ambulance standards announced
A new way of working for ambulance services will be implemented across the country to ensure patients get the right response, first time. This is following the largest clinical ambulance trial in the world and will update a decades old system. The demand for ambulance services is increasing every...
State of the nation’s health revealed in landmark report from PHE
Public Health England (PHE) has published a milestone report on the health of the population in England. The 'Health Profile for England' report is the first time PHE has used its wealth of population health data to give an overall picture of the health of England. People are living longer than...
CQC next phase of regulation: consultation update
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) want your views on how they can continue to develop a more targeted, responsive and collaborative approach to regulation. They've now published the response to their December consultation on their next phase of regulation. Visit the website to read it and the...
Most ASC services meet the ‘Mum Test’ - but CQC finds too much poor care
While the majority of Adult Social Care (ASC) services are safe and of a high quality and many are improving, too many people across London and England as a whole are living in care homes and receiving care and support in their own homes that is not good enough. Without a proper recognition of the...
Healthwatch Sunderland Annual Report 2016-2017
Healthwatch Sunderland is pleased to present its annual report for 2016-2017. Our report outlines our activities over the last year and our impact on local health and social care services. Download the report
NHS England announces new sites to redesign mental health services and cut out of area placements
NHS England has announced a new tranche of sites to test new approaches to delivering mental health services – cutting the number of people travelling long distances for care. Eleven new sites will be tasked with bringing down the number of people who receive in-patient hospital treatment and for...
Consultation into hospital services
A consultation to gather public views around the different ways some aspects of NHS hospital services could be arranged in South Tyneside and Sunderland will start in July 2017. Called ' The Path to Excellence' , the public consultation will run for 14-and-a-half weeks from Wednesday 5 July until...
CMA outlines emerging concerns in care homes market
The Competing and Markets Authority (CMA) has today (14th June 2017) published the initial findings of its care homes market study , and is investigating if some homes are breaking consumer law. The update paper sets out their findings so far, their future focus and possible recommendations...
Engaging and empowering staff is key to driving improvement in hospital care
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today (Wednesday 14 June) published a report that explores how eight NHS trusts have been able to make significant improvements in the quality of care and improve their CQC rating. 'Driving improvement: case studies from eight NHS trusts ,' reveals the journey...
