News and reports

On this page is our national partner Healthwatch England’s pharmacy closures briefing report, after they sent a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to all 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England to investigate the issue of pharmacy closures. Read a brief summary of the key findings and recommendations for healthcare leaders below.

Our national partner Healthwatch England’s report unpacks women’s experiences of cervical screening and sets our recommendations for healthcare leaders.

A summary of the report is below. You can download the full report and a large print version further down this page.

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

Are you struggling to find an NHS dentist? The new dental recovery plan might help you get the dental care you need.

The new Pharmacy First scheme enables your local pharmacy to treat some common conditions with prescription-only medicines, without you visiting your GP. Find out everything you need to know.

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