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Plymouth City Council are launching an important consultation about how they deliver disability adaptations across Plymouth, and they need your help to spread the word and get involved.News -
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is proud to announce details of its annual Our People Awards celebration event, thanks to the generosity of its corporate sponsors.News -
This Share for Better Care Week (24 February – 2 March), Dr Ranj is teaming up with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Healthwatch England (HWE) to urge people across England to take three spare minutes to feed back on their recent health and social care experiences.News -
A project to support young people with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has secured funding to develop a multilingual virtual assistant.News -
Local people in Devon have one week left to share their experiences, views and ideas that will contribute to the development of the national 10-Year Health Plan whilst informing local priorities in Devon.News -
Nearly a fifth of people who have experienced trauma say they often avoid health services. Healthwatch England have called on the NHS to adopt pocket-sized trauma cards for patients to show during appointments, following a successful pilot.News -
The seniormost medic in the NHS in England is stepping down.News -
Our national partner Healthwatch England are asking about your experience of referral for specialist treatment. Has your GP referred you for an assessment or treatment at a hospital or community clinic? Share your story.News -
Today the government finally announced details of how it will fulfill Labour's election pledge to roll out a supervised toothbrushing scheme to children aged 3-5 living in deprived areas.News -
The government has announced that NHS dental changes will go up from 1 April by 2.39% .News -
People detained for inpatient assessment and treatment under the Mental Health Act seem to be more unwell on admission than in the past, according to a report out today from the Care Quality Commission.News -
A Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust team has been shortlisted for its work on digital literacy and inclusion in the prestigious Health Services Journal (HSJ) digital awards 2025.News -
Two projects have been awarded the 2024 Healthwatch Impact Award for their exceptional work in using local people’s experiences to improve care.News -
A new domestic abuse support service is set to launch in Devon.News -
Following the announcement last month that the government had agreed a new one-year contract with GPs, Healthwatch can bring you more details of what the changes mean to patient care from 1 April.News -
Good social care can make a big difference to someone's life. But are people always receiving the help they need? Find out what our research and feedback tells us and how we think social care support could be improved.News -
Want to find out more about heart health? Join Naing KoKo, consultant cardiologist, at a free health talk on Tuesday 29 April 2025, from 5.30pm-6.30pm at TREC, Torbay Hospital (or online).News -
Dr Joanna Bircher is now a member of the Healthwatch England Committee.News -
The NHS Peninsula Cancer Alliance and Macmillan Cancer Support are undertaking a survey to understand how cancer affects the feelings and emotions of patients, their families, and/or carers.News -
More than 40,000 patients in Devon eligible for the COVID –19 vaccination this Spring have been vaccinated in the first week of the campaign.
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The NHS in Devon is preparing for the start of the holiday season, as the first of many visitors start to arrive for the Easter weekend.News -
For the past three years, artist Helen Snell has worked with staff at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to explore issues of wellbeing and burn out as they tried to recover from the pandemic.News -
The southwest’s major trauma centre and acute specialist hospital at Derriford will benefit from a new, state-of-the-art Emergency Care Building after the Department of Health and Social Care rubber-stamped funding for the project.News -
Working with Royal Mail, NHS and patient organisations, our national partners Healthwatch England have written an open letter to Ofcom highlighting the introduction of new protections to ensure reliable and efficient postal service for NHS patients.News -
New research from our national partners Healthwatch England reveals costs of additional eye care services are likely to deter some people from visiting opticians altogether.News -
Peninsula Imaging Network (PenRAD) has launched an AI-powered chest CT service across four NHS trusts in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to help detect lung cancer quicker.News -
The Government launched a call for evidence to inform the development of a men's health strategy for England. Share your views by 17 July 2025.Report -
In October 2023, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s (UHP) Royal Eye Infirmary (REI) service moved from its location at Derriford Hospital to a new purpose-built building in the International Business Park near to the Derriford Hospital Site. Earlier this year Healthwatch Plymouth (HWP) conducted visits to the REI to engage with patients around their experiences of the new facility. This engagement report collates and summarises this patient feedback.Report -
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.Report -
Our national partner Healthwatch England’s 2023 – 24 annual report outlines how the public’s stories have changed care for the better, and the work they’re doing to make sure that the health and social care system puts patients at its very heart.Report -
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.Report -
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.Report -
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.Report -
Healthwatch England’s research unpacks people’s experiences of using Community Diagnostic Centres and lessons for expanding community-based care.Report -
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.Report -
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.Report -
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 EnglandReport -
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 TorbayReport -
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.Report -
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 TorbayReport -
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 TorbayReport -
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 TorbayReport -
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 TorbayReport -
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 TorbayReport -
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.Report -
This report describes the wide range of engagement, representation and impact undertaken by Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay over the past year.
By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and TorbayReport -
Healthwatch England recently published their findings and a set of immediate actions for the Government and the NHS, in relation to the cost of living and the detrimental impact it is having on people’s decisions about their own health and wellbeing.
In light of these findings, we wanted to find out if the cost of living was having an impact on people in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay and if so, in what way.
60 people responded to the survey and the survey ran throughout March to May 2023.
By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and TorbayReport -
This report presents findings from our December 2022 to January 2023 survey on men’s health and the feedback shared by 132 local men.
By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and TorbayReport -
NHS and social care services only make the best decisions if they listen to the people they care for. Read our national partner Healthwatch England’s Annual Report to Parliament to see how your feedback has helped decision-makers prioritise what matters most.Report -
What people have told us about health and social care
Find out in our quarterly Impact and Outcomes report how your feedback is helping NHS and social care services improve care in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.