What We Are Working On

Worcestershire has five Minor Injuries Units (MIUs) located in Bromsgrove, Evesham, Kidderminster, Malvern and Tenbury. They are part of the NHS urgent care and out of hours service offer. They offer advice and treatment for a variety of injuries including cuts, grazes, wounds, sprains, minor eye injuries, strains and minor burns.

We wanted to explore levels of awareness amongst the public of Minor Injuries Units.   We found that while most respondents had heard of Minor Injuries Units, more information about them is needed. Most people are aware of the message about contacting NHS 111 out of GP surgery hours, but some people find out of hours services confusing.

Read Reports

Awareness of Minor Injuries Units – Full Report vs 1.0

Awareness of Minor Injuries Units – SUMMARY Report

Awareness of Minor Injuries Units – Appendices vs 1.0

For more information, contact Margaret Reilly – mreilly@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

Our volunteers will be carrying out a mystery shopping exercise on the new Worcestershire County Council website.

They will be putting themselves in the shoes of someone looking for information about Adult Social Care services. Each scenario includes a number of questions, and we will ask our volunteers to look for the answers on the County Council website and record the information they found out.

For more information, contact Margaret Reilly – mreilly@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

We carried out visits to Accident and Emergency departments at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in November and December 2021 to gather feedback from patients to understand their reasons for attending A&E, what factors contributed to this choice and what, if anything, can be done to influence patients choice to attend A&E and provide the public with better information about the urgent care services available.

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What patients told us about why they “walk in” to A&E Departments in Worcestershire

For more information, contact Margaret Reilly – mreilly@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

During Covid-19 GP practices and increasingly hospitals have been using telephone and video call consultations in place of face-to-face appointments. There has also been an increase in the use of online services such as email and text message communication and ordering of prescriptions online.

We carried out a survey to gather people’s feedback and experiences of accessing health care and information digitally – online and by phone. We also spoke to people face-to-face at events and groups, with a focus on speaking to those who may face health inequalities, be digitally excluded or find using the internet and accessing online services more difficult.

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HWW Digital Access to Healthcare Report – January 2022

For more information, contact info@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

Report – Hospital Discharge During Covid-19

We carried out surveys and interviews to hear about being discharged from Worcestershire hospitals during Covid-19 from patients and their carers. We also spoke with some care providers and NHS and social care staff to understand their views. We produced a Report and made recommendations for improvement. Use the link to read our Report and see the Action Plan the NHS produced in response

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People’s experience of leaving Worcestershire hospitals during Covid-19 – August 2021

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – review of Inpatient Discharge Policy

Following on from our Report we have been working with the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust (Acute Trust) on their review of the hospitals Inpatient Discharge Policy

Following our feedback the Draft Policy now includes the points we made in relation to mental health, homelessness, the involvement of carers in the discharge planning process and the identification of a usual cut off time for hospital discharge of 8 p.m.

We wrote to them about other issues we would like to see included in the Draft Discharge Policy. You can read our letter and the Trusts response. We will continue to keep this issue under review.

Read Letters

HWW Letter to Acute Trust Chief Executive re Draft Inpatient Discharge Policy

Acute Trust response to HWW letter re Draft Inpatient Discharge Policy Sept 2022

Empowering Carers on Hospital Discharge

The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (now Integrated Care System) has developed a useful checklist and plan to help carers when their loved one leaves hospital. We wrote asking for more information about how this would be used.

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Letter from Healthwatch Worcestershire re Empowering Carers on Hospital Discharge

Response for Integrated Care System to HWW

For more information contact Margaret Reilly  – mreilly@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

We have carried out a variety of engagement and surveys gathering feedback from children, young people and parents and carers about emotional wellbeing and mental health. In December 2020 to January 2021 we gathered feedback from young people about their experiences relating to emotional wellbeing and mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We ran a follow up survey from November 2021 to February 2022 for young people age 13 to 19. In particular we wanted to understand their views on Covid-19 vaccinations and the impact of the pandemic, the kind information they want about health and emotional wellbeing, experiences of emotional wellbeing support and any issues they have when accessing information and support online.

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HWW Young People’s Health and Emotional Wellbeing Report – March 2022

Covid-19 Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Report – March 2021

Being Healthy – Children Survey Report – December 2019

Children and Young People’s Mental Health Report – March 2019

For further information contact – info@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

In response to issues raised with us via engagement with the LGBT community, we wanted to find out more about the experiences of LGBT+ people in relation to NHS and Social Care services in Worcestershire.

We carried out surveys and engagement with adults and young people, to inform our report in 2020 and have continued work in this area looking at how the recommendations and actions from the report are being implemented within local services.

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LGBT+ Report – March 2020

For further information contact Suzy James  – suzyjames@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

We carried out a survey to find out what concerns people have about having a Covid-19 vaccination and where they look for information about the vaccine.

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Identifying Concerns about the Covid-19 Vaccine – Survey Summary Report

For more information contact Suzy James – suzyjames@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

Since March 2020 we have been gathering feedback about accessing health and social care services during Covid-19, including our Covid-19 survey and Learning Disabilities and Autism Covid-19 Survey.

You can read more about our findings, recommendations and the responses we received here –

Covid-19 Reports – September 2020

Summaries of the issues that people have raised with during the the Covid-19 pandemic can be found in the Your Feedback section of Our Reports, Responses and Feedback

For more information contact Margaret Reilly  – mreilly@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

Last year we carried out work gathering the experiences of patients and their carers about South Worcestershire Community Assessment and Rehabilitation Service.

Read Results

South Worcestershire Community Assessment and Recovery Service Report

For more information contact Suzy James – suzyjames@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

Prisoner Experiences of Healthcare Services at HMP Hewell

For further information contact Suzy James  – suzyjames@www.healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk

HWW Business Plan Y2 – 2022- 2023