News and reports

Healthwatch England’s research unpacks people’s experiences of using Community Diagnostic Centres and lessons for expanding community-based care.

Our Phase 2 survey report of Carers’ experiences provides valuable insight into the impact that caring for someone for more than 20 hours a week can have on Carers’ lives.

We heard from more than 200 Carers who live in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay who shared their experiences with us, following on from an earlier report published in November 2022. We also conducted a guided conversation with 17 individual Carers to help us understand in more detail how a Carer’s role was impacting on their everyday life and their emotional wellbeing.

This report details our key activities for the last quarter, including how we have engaged with the public, a summary of the feedback we have collected, our reports, recommendations and any outcomes or impact made.

Social care support can be transformative for disabled people – but as many as 1.5 million working-age Disabled people in England may not be getting the care they’re eligible for.

Our national partner Healthwatch England’s new research into social care for disabled people shows how transformative social care can be for those receiving it. But it also demonstrates the scale of unmet need. In the full report, Healthwatch outline their findings and provide recommendations to decision-makers.

16/07/2024
By Healthwatch England

Following the recovery of NHS Services after the Covid-19 pandemic, Healthwatch Plymouth held conversations with the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) manager at University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) in late 2022 to see how we could collaboratively work with them around the findings from the Healthwatch England report. It was agreed for HWP to independently interview individuals via telephone contact who had recently been through the complaints process at UHP and who had consented to be contacted by HWP.

This report is the findings from those conversations, a brief summary of the findings and recommendations is below.

By Healthwatch in Devon Plymouth and Torbay

This report describes the wide range of engagement, representation and impact undertaken by Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay in 12 months from April 2023 to March 2024. A brief summary is further down this page.

This report details our key activities for the last quarter, including how we have engaged with the public, a summary of the feedback we have collected, our reports, recommendations and any outcomes or impact made.

By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay

This report details our key activities for the last quarter, including how we have engaged with the public, a summary of the feedback we have collected, our reports, recommendations and any outcomes or impact made.

By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay

Our report on Patient Experiences of Pharmacy Services, detailing a total of 141 experiences about Pharmacy Services across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay during the 18-month period. Issues raised by those surveyed include medication delays and supply problems that affect the prescription/repeat prescription service, patients not knowing when their medications are ready for collection, and phone calls going unanswered. We have shared the report and its findings with NHS stakeholders in Devon and made key recommendations for them.

By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay

In the Spring and Summer of 2023, independent consumer champion Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay (HWDPT) were commissioned by NHS Devon to visit Emergency Departments (EDs) across Devon’s four Acute Hospital sites to speak to patients to better understand what informed and influenced their decision to attend ED. 511 people conversed with HWDPT during 34 visits at various times and days, which included daytime, evenings and weekends.

By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay

This report details our key Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay activities for the last quarter, including how we have engaged with the public, a summary of the feedback we have collected, our reports, recommendations and any outcomes or impact made.

By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay

Healthwatch England report examining ten key areas of care, including GPs, dentists, hospitals, and social care. It is based on more than 65 thousand experiences recorded from all local Healthwatch organisations across the country – including from us here at Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. It also includes recommendations and potential solutions for the NHSE, commissioners and service providers.