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Your GP Surgery Websites - What you told us
With the development of online consultation services in GP practices, it’s more vital than ever for surgeries to have an online presence. A GP...
Hospital text appointments update
Over the past couple of months we have been working to understand and influence improvements with the South Tyneside and Sunderland Hospital Trust's...
Have your say about Sunderland Wheelchair Services
Have you or a family member used Sunderland Wheelchair Services in the last year? Healthwatch Sunderland would like to invite you to share what you...
Patient Transport Service - change to booking
Arrangements in Sunderland, Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside have changed. North East Ambulance Service have written to let us know that they have been successful in bidding for a tender to provide the telephone booking service for the Patient Transport Service (PTS) in four Clinical...
Offer £5,200 grants to nursing students and ramp up overseas recruitment to stop NHS workforce crisis
A radical expansion of nurse training, with cost-of-living grants of £5,200 a year and a tripling in the number of people training as postgraduates, is among a set of urgent measures that a new report says are needed to prevent the health and care workforce crisis from worsening dramatically...
CQC update profiles of care services for older people in every local authority in England
How well do health and social care services in your area serve the needs of older people? Most older people, particularly those with complex needs, will receive care at some time. Their experience will often depend on how well different services work together for them, their families and carers. As...
AAA Screening
AAA stands for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm . The aorta is the main blood vessel that supplies blood to your body. It runs from your heart down through your chest and abdomen. In some people, as they get older, the wall of the aorta in the abdomen can become weak. It can then start to expand and form...
South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals share future ambitions for clinical excellence and outstanding services
Hospital teams in South Tyneside and Sunderland have shared their ambitions to create outstanding future services which offer the very highest quality of safe patient care and clinical excellence. Following several months of work led by local doctors, nurses and therapy staff from both hospitals as...
New research for Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is calling for people to speak up about their experiences of care, as new research* shows that 10% people in North East who have accessed health or social care services, in the last five years have had concerns about their care, but never raised them. Of these,...
Cervical Screening Programme
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme has made a significant impact on cervical cancer mortality since it was established in 1988, saving an estimated 5,000 lives a year, however, coverage is at a 20-year low. A new PHE campaign Cervical Screening Saves Lives, supported by the NHS aims to reverse...
Introducing the Carers passport
Hospital chiefs are launching a passport for carers so that they can get involved in all aspects of their loved ones’ treatment and care. The move comes after new figures released this week show that more than 600 people a day quit careers because of the demands of caring for a loved one. The study...
Healthwatch Champion celebrates her 90th birthday!
Sunderland resident Hannah Cowie (also known as Nancy) celebrated her 90 th birthday on 12 th December. Nancy has volunteered with Healthwatch Sunderland since its launch in April 2013 and continues to be a much valued member of the team. Nancy is enthusiastic and always up for a new challenge,...
Hot off the press! Decision made on Urgent Care in Sunderland
The Sunderland urgent care consultation concluded with the decision to have an urgent treatment centre located at Pallion Health Centre with five Sunderland Extended Access services located throughout the Sunderland area. The Sunderland Extended Access service will be available at: Pallion Health...
New campaign to promote GP online access for patients
A campaign has been launched across the North East and Cumbria to encourage more patients to access their local GP practice via their phone, tablet and computer. Latest data shows that 24% of patients across the North East and Cumbria use GP online services to book appointments, order repeat...
Bowel Cancer Screening saves lives
Forty-two per cent of people across the South of Tyne who received bowel screening kits in 2017 did not complete them. However, bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. If it's detected at an early stage, through screening before symptoms appear, it's easier to treat and there's a...
Recruitment of Executive Board members
Healthwatch Sunderland are looking to strengthen our Board and are currently seeking a motivated and focused self-starter to join our successful team as a: Healthwatch Sunderland Board Member Location: Sunderland Voluntary: out of pocket expenses paid The Board of Healthwatch Sunderland is seeking...
Urgent care services proposal decision making governing body meeting date is released
NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group is to make a decision on the proposed options on the Urgent Care consultation. From 9 May until 2 September 2018, NHS Sunderland CCG engaged with over 2,500 people through surveys, public events, focus groups, emails and over the phone on the proposals...
Action on Dementia Sunderland - Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow
Action on Dementia Sunderland is a community based charity which was formed in January 2010 to provide support to the people of Sunderland who have dementia, also their carers (families and friends). The organisation’s committee and volunteers have many years of experience in caring for people with...
Update on Path to Excellence – CCG court case judgment handed down
Following the judgment handed down at the High Court of Justice, Leeds, by His Honour Judge Raeside QC on Friday 21 December, which has determined that the two Clinical Commissioning Groups (Sunderland and South Tyneside CCGs) involved in The Path to Excellence hospital transformation programme can...
Sunderland People First latest newsletter
Sunderland People First has just published their newsletter for Winter 2018, you can download it by clicking on the link below. Download the Newsletter
Pharmacy Opening Times
Provided by the NHS , over the Christmas period you can find out what pharmacy's near you are open! It is very quick and is very easy. View here to find out!
We've been out and about
Healthwatch Sunderland Engagement Team and our intrepid Volunteers have been ‘Out and About’ across all areas of Sunderland, making connections with local people to inform and increase knowledge on Healthwatch Sunderland – ‘Who We Are, What We Do and Engagement Processes’ ‘Where Have We Been and...
Public invited to provide ideas or evidence to the NHS Path to Excellence programme
Interested organisations or individuals are being invited to take part in a public listening panel to provide evidence or ideas on solving the challenges local hospital and NHS services are facing across South Tyneside and Sunderland. NHS partners published the Path to Excellence phase two draft...
Sunderland People First latest newsletter
Sunderland People First has just published their newsletter for Autumn 2018, you can download it by clicking on the link below. Download the newsletter
Three things you can do while waiting to see your Doctor
Many of us will have recently visited the doctor and, according to the GP Patient Survey , 69% of people had to wait 15 minutes or less after their scheduled appointment time, to be seen at their latest GP appointment. What do you while you wait? Here are a few suggestions on productive things you...
Boundary change for Forge Medical Practice
Each GP practice is required to identify a geographical area where they are able to safely deliver healthcare to patients. This is important as it includes home visits and midwife appointments; this area is called a practice boundary area. After reviewing the travel time for GPs and Nurses to...
Check if you're eligible for help
You might be able to get help to pay these NHS charges: NHS prescriptions NHS dental treatment sight tests, glasses and contact lenses travel to receive NHS treatment NHS wigs and fabric supports You can check what help you could get and what to do next. It usually takes 3 minutes to check - Access...
Flu vaccination: easy read flu leaflet
An easy to read leaflet providing information on influenza (flu) and vaccination has been developed by Public Health England . This leaflet is aimed at people who have, or care for someone with a learning disability. It provides easy to read advice on: the flu virus and why you need a vaccine signs...
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