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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 -
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 -
The seniormost medic in the NHS in England is stepping down.Response -
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced today that he will bring the NHS back under the control of ministers by abolishing NHS England.Blog -
From November 2024 to February 2025 we worked with NHS Devon to gather over 3,500 of your views, experiences, and ideas, which shaped a new 10 Year Health Plan for the whole of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.News -
A new domestic abuse support service is set to launch in Devon.Response -
Satisfaction with health service is at lowest recorded levels. Read the response from our national partners Healthwatch England.Blog -
The Government has promised to put in place a 10-Year Health Plan to fix the NHS in England. Our national partners Healthwatch England have outlined the four things that matter most to you and how they should shape the 10-Year Plan. Read their blog below.News -
Patients across eastern Devon have been left struggling to access essential hearing services following what has been described as a chaotic handover of the region's NHS audiology contract.Response -
Following media reports that the Government are abolishing bodies and organisations that unfortunately include Healthwatch England and the local Healthwatch Network, our Chair Dr Kevin Dixon has issued the response below.News -
The Government has released its new 10-Year Health Plan — here’s what it says, and what it could mean for Healthwatch and you.News -
The latest Review of Patient Safety Across the Health and Care Landscape, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and run by Dr Penny Dash, has been published.Response -
The annual GP Patient Survey is out today. It highlights improvements to how people access care from their GP, pharmacy, dentistry, and other primary care teams. Read the response of our national partner Healthwatch England.News -
The Local Healthwatch Network has announced the launch of a new campaign to advocate for the preservation of an independent public voice in health and care.Blog -
Our insights into people's experiences of using community-based care.Advice and Information -
The wait for planned medical care or surgery can be frustrating. That’s why you must get regular and accessible updates while you wait.Advice and Information -
The usual processes the NHS follows to discharge you from hospital have changed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what you can expect when it’s time to leave hospital.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.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 -
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.Report -
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 -
This Healthwatch England briefing discusses people’s experiences of urgent and emergency care (UEC) services from December 2020 to August 2022.
It mentions how Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay reported on four Emergency Departments across Devon in September 2021. At all four hospitals they found that people had gone to the emergency department because they could not access another service, such as the GP or NHS 111. In one visit to one of the emergency departments they found that over half (51%) of patients attending were there because they couldn’t see their GP.Report -
In 2022, Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay held a series of meetings with the South West representative of the Royal Association for Deaf People to discuss various concerns that were being raised around access to British Sign Language (BSL) qualified interpreters. These concerns include:
• Interpreters to support appointments in hospital and GP surgeries
• Interpreters to support complaints process
• Access to informationReport -
Building on previous pieces of work on the NHS 111 services provided by Devon Doctors in Devon and Somerset, Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay (HWDPT) and Healthwatch Somerset (HWS) worked together to find out whether people’s experiences with the 111 service had improved or changed since the previous research was carried out.
This report highlights our key findings and detailed responses.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.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 -
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 -
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust have confirmed that they have secured £7.3million from the estates safety fund to reduce their critical infrastructure risks at Torbay Hospital, helping to prevent cancelled appointments and operations.Response -
Patients are being promised better, faster and more appropriate emergency care under government reforms to shorten waiting times in A&E.News -
NHS England has published a refreshed version of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) which was first released in 2016. Here we look at what the standard means for you and and how this has changed with the refreshed version.News -
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has upgraded Surgery Services at Derriford Hospital to Good across all five key questions: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led.Response -
Read Healthwatch England's response to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report, The Safety Gap, on the accessibility of medicines for people with sensory impairments.News -
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.Report -
Research from our national partners Healthwatch England has found that costs for additional services when visiting opticians are a barrier to care for people on low incomes.News -
Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, the advice is to:
• Order and collect any repeat medicines
• Make sure your medicine cabinet is well-stocked
• Make use of community pharmacies
• Look after yourselves and loved ones - check in on vulnerable family members and neighbours.
Report -
The impact ADHD has on people’s lives can be profound and can be spread across multiple areas of their life. Healthwatch England's new report highlights these impacts and the changes they are calling for to ensure everyone gets the support they need.News -
The Torbay Health and Wellbeing Voluntary Sector Network has released its second annual report showcasing an “extraordinary year of community collaboration, impact, and resilience in the face of ongoing economic and social challenges”.Response -
The ADHD taskforce have today published the first part of their report. The final report will be available later this year.Response -
Our national partner Healthwatch England's response to the latest NHS waiting times data.Response -
The Government has announced measures to improve women's experiences with cervical screening. Booking screening should be easier, and lower-risk people will attend fewer appointments.News -
Record numbers of patients in Devon are now accessing healthcare services through the NHS App.Blog -
People in Torbay have improved access to low-level healthcare support after we led on a collaborative Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) prevention project offering free blood pressure and health checks in the local community.News -
The NHS App will be updated to 'democratise' healthcare by giving all patients more access to triage tools and comparison information about providers from the NHS App.News -
NHS England has published the long-awaited updates to the Accessible Information Standard. Read our response.News -
Are you a refugee or seeking asylum in England? Learn about how to access NHS care and what services you’re entitled to.News -
Our national partner Healthwatch England's self-selecting survey of nearly 1,400 trans and non-binary adults highlights that only 53% rate their GP practice as 'good' for general care.Report -
Latest research shows the barriers that trans and non-binary people face when seeking care.