Healthwatch Wokingham is your local health and social care champion.
From Wargrave to Winnersh, Finchampstead to Spencers Wood and everywhere in between we are here for you.
If you use GPs and hospitals, dentists, pharmacies, care homes or other support services in your area, we want to hear about your experiences.
We can also help you to find reliable and trustworthy information and advice.
Last year, the Healthwatch network helped nearly a million people like you to have your say and get the support you need.
We’re entirely independent and impartial, and anything you share with us is confidential.
Healthwatch uses your feedback to better understand the challenges facing the NHS and other care providers, and we make sure your experiences improve health and care for everyone – locally and nationally.
This year, we have worked on projects driven by your feedback including, finding out more about the experience of unpaid carers during the pandemic.
We are currently analysing the results of our GP access survey after you told us about the challenges you are facing.
We continue to champion your views with NHS leaders and other decision makers.
Healthwatch Wokingham is part of a network of over 150 local Healthwatch across the country.
We feed our intelligence into Healthwatch England to help change policy and influence at the highest level.
Your experiences have helped to shape national services in the following areas:
1. Thanks to your feedback, we quickly alerted regulators about care homes using ‘Do not attempt to resuscitate’ forms without consent.
2. With online appointments becoming the norm, Healthwatch England used your stories to develop advice that helps more professionals and patients get the most out of digital consultations.
3. When the public were worried about how the NHS would use their GP data, we helped prevent issues by advising the NHS to be more transparent and give people more time to opt-out.
4. Teaming up with the British Red Cross, Healthwatch England called for improvements to make leaving the hospital safer during the pandemic. The harrowing stories that people shared with us about being discharged with little or no support led to new Government guidance to ensure this does not happen again.
5. We urged the Government to act after reporting a 452% increase in people struggling to see an NHS dentist. Although reform takes time, the Government asked dental practices to maintain accurate information online in response to our recommendations.
6. When the public struggled to see their GP face-to-face, we asked the NHS to confirm this right for all patients.
We can also help you to get the information and advice you need to make the right decisions for you and to get the support you deserve. It’s important that you share your experiences – whether good or bad, happy or sad. If you’ve had a negative experience, it’s easy to think there’s no point in complaining, and that ‘nothing ever changes.’ Or, if you’ve had a great experience, that you ‘wish you could say thank you’. Remember, your feedback is helping to improve people’s lives. So, if you need advice, or you’re ready to tell your story – we’re here to listen.
Contact us on: 0118 418 1418 between the hours of 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday
Alternatively, email: enquiries@healthwatchwokingham.co.uk, or visit our website: https://www.healthwatchwokingham.co.uk/contact-us
JOANNA DIXON
