News from Healthwatch Torbay:
Healthwatch Torbay’s annual feedback report includes more than 650 reviews, raises some 220 concerns, and highlights 66 serious complaints.
In a busy year, social media users have seen our posts nearly 250,000 times while we’ve taken part in 15 ‘enter and view’ visits to local health and social care services as well as meeting hundreds of local people at over 50 community events.
We’ve also written and published 10 health and social care feedback reports responding to people’s experiences.
As far as hospitals are concerned 86% of the reviews in our new report were positive for treatment and care, though facilities and surroundings were seen positively by only 46%.
Doctors and GPs received positive feedback, as did the attitude of medical staff but 67% of 178 reviews were negative as far as administration was concerned while many were concerned about the difficulty of seeing a GP and about ‘convenience’.
Dentists received appositive response as far as medical staff and treatment were concerned but, as with GPs, negatives included appointment availability and ‘general administration’.
With social care there was concern expressed about the safety of care and treatment, and about communication but for community-based services positive themes included treatment and explanation of treatment, as well as speed of service. Positive themes for residential care included treatment and care but staffing levels and, again, safety were seen negatively – though cleanliness and ‘staff attitudes’ both received five stars.
- Healthwatch Torbay contacted providers to share your online reviews and concerns, and this past year you have received 264 responses, available online at healthwatchtorbay.org.uk.
- All feedback is logged in our system for further analysis while 220 complaints and/or concerns have been referred onwards.
- To make it more convenient, we hold monthly drop-in sessions at our Paignton Library walk-in Centre.
- Our report summarising feedback on local GPs is being discussed by the South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group.
- Following on from the concerns raised about a domiciliary care provider a comprehensive review of care delivery was undertaken.
- We spoke with over 800 carers in our Carers’ Consultation. Their feedback will be used to form the new Torbay Carers’ Strategy
- Digital Inclusion: Following public feedback expressing difficulties using the internet to book appointments and order prescriptions, for example, Healthwatch Torbay set up a free training programme showing people exactly how to do these things.
To share your experiences of local health and social care services, visit www.healthwatchtorbay.org.uk to rate and review a service in confidence. Call us, too, if you’d like to find out more about our report.
Bob Jope
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