What we heard in June

77 of you shared your experiences of health and social care with us in June. 61 were complaints and concerns, 13 were compliments and 3 were requests for information. Your feedback is vital to help us understand what is working well and where services could improve for people across Hampshire.

Services people talked about most

• You mentioned General Practice  25 times, with feedback focused mainly on booking appointments, quality of treatment and waiting lists. We also heard positive experiences of responsive care and helpful practice teams.

“I'm actually very pleased with my GP. Called on Wednesday as my daughter has an issue with her foot and the doctor called me back within minutes and offered an appointment the same day. It was all very smooth and I didn't have to wait at all. Thank you St Paul's surgery Winchester!”

• You mentioned Adult Social Care 8 times. People contacted us for advice about assessments, support at home, housing options and benefits, as well as sharing concerns about communication and ongoing support.

 I would also appreciate guidance on who to contact regarding older-person housing options in the New Forest area, including retirement rental.  Finally, I’d be grateful for any local signposting for help with Attendance Allowance, benefits checks and practical support for older people.

• You mentioned Community Mental Health Teams 7 times, highlighting concerns about continuity of care, access to support and communication during periods of crisis

Once transferred to community mental health team things have been disjointed and unsupportive... Would improve with regular support from a named person to allow continuity of care. Current setup leaves you having to re explain every time and struggling to access someone to speak to in the first place. Constant changes of psychiatrists which doesn't provide any continuity or feeling of support”

• You mentioned Dentistry  7 times, including 3 compliments. People described both positive experiences of timely, smooth appointments and difficulties linked to cancelled appointments or NHS dental access.

  
  

“Good access at a time I was available. However, appointment was cancelled and rearranged at short notice and although I could make this appointment it meant taking time off work during the day.” 

Key themes and providers

The most common theme was quality of treatment, raised in 17 pieces of feedback. Access to services was the next most common theme, with 11 pieces of feedback. People also told us about booking appointments, waiting for care or treatment, continuity of care, communication, reasonable adjustments and being listened to.

Hampshire County Council was mentioned most often with 5 items of feedback, followed by NHS 111 with 4 items of feedback.

What happens next

We will use this feedback to help improve services by:

• Sharing what we have heard with relevant providers and system partners

• Highlighting examples of good practice

• Continuing to explore issues affecting access to General Practice, including through our ongoing GP survey work with neighbouring local Healthwatch teams

• Publishing clear public summaries so local people can see how their feedback is being used

  
  

Share your experience 

Your feedback helps make health and social care services better for everyone. If you have used a service recently, good or bad, Healthwatch Hampshire wants to hear from you. Email us at enquiries@healthwatchhampshire.co.uk, phone us on 01962 440 262 or have your say here.