If you or someone you know has had an excellent (or not so great) health or social care experience, our colleagues Janet and Tracy would love to hear about it.
They follow up reports from clients and contacts across the borough for our Healthwatch Surrey project. HWS collates the stories we provide and reports them anonymously.
Their latest Insight Bulletin shows the depth and value of the work. One hospital said ‘complaints’ or feedback from patients and families provide a ‘thread of gold’ that leads to positive change.
Recently, as widely reported, fewer people have been using NHS services. Some haven’t wanted to complain when things go wrong. It’s still important though to report good or bad experiences. Feedback is really valuable. Without it, Healthwatch and the NHS will miss opportunities for listening, learning and improvement.
One example of information we provided helped Healthwatch identify vaccine communication as needing urgent attention. Everyone can help the NHS in Surrey by reporting their experience of: appointment communication; access of vaccination centre; public transport; wheelchair provision; waiting time; cleanliness; safety; efficiency; after-effects.
Janet and Tracy are waiting to hear all your health and social care experiences. Email healthwatch@carbs.org.uk