-
Advice and Information -
People have told us they can have problems registering with a GP. This article explains more about your rights and what do to if you are refused the right to register. -
Advice and Information -
Find out what support is available to help you when travelling to your GP, hospital or other NHS services. -
Advice and Information -
With more and more appointments happening online, we've put together some tips on how to get the most out of the virtual health and care appointments both for patients and health and care professionals. -
Report -
Our report looks at what you told us about whether you could access your GP and the barriers you faced. -
Report -
Read about our biggest projects over the last year and the engagement we have done to find out what matters to you and how you want to see services improve. -
Report -
Read our report into the consultation we conducted with carers about health and social care issues that have an impact on their wellbeing. -
Report -
Find out about the problems people are facing when trying to get an appointment with their GP. -
Report -
Read our report into the barriers faced by deaf people who are trying to access health and social care services across Hartlepool. -
Report -
Read about this years successes and highlights in our annual report, as well as the biggest projects we have worked on over the last financial year. -
Report -
Find out about our year and the projects we have undertaken in our latest annual report. -
Report -
Healthwatch Hartlepool recognises that many people in Hartlepool are significantly affected by health inequalities and high levels of ill-health. -
Advice and Information -
To book an appointment for the 7 Day GP Access Service, please contact your own GP surgery first! -
Advice and Information -
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, The NHS bowel cancer screening kit detects signs of cancer before you notice anything wrong. Detecting it at the earliest stage makes it up to 9 times more likely to be successfully treated. So if you're aged 60 to 74 (lowering to 50 by 2025), live in England and registered with a GP practice, you’ll be sent a kit in the post automatically, every two years. The kit is quick and simple to complete and can be done in the privacy of your own bathroom using the step-by-step instructions on the box. You only need to collect one tiny sample of poo using the plastic stick provided, pop it in the sample bottle and post it for free, to be tested.
The test works by checking for tiny traces of blood, which may not be visible to the naked eye. Blood in your poo is one of the signs of bowel cancer but does not always mean cancer. Instead, it could be a sign of piles or polyps (growths in the bowel). Polyps are not cancer but could develop into cancer over time.
-
News -
Are you aged 16-25?
-
Advice and Information -
Independent NHS Complaints Advocacy supports people to raise their concerns and complaints about NHS care and treatment.
Call our helpline on 03003 038037 for information, guidance and support. 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday.
-
News -
Healthwatch Hartlepool Newsletter for September is now available to download
Click on the link! -
News -
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched an NHS campaign to encourage members of the public who could be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure to get their blood pressure checked at a participating pharmacy.
The campaign, backed by British Heart Foundation, Stroke Association, Heart Research UK, Blood Pressure UK, May Measurement Month, British Society for Heart Failure, and more, warns that there are often ‘no clues’ about who might have high blood pressure.
Who can get a free blood pressure check
You can get a free blood pressure check if you:
are aged 40 or over and live in England
You cannot get a free blood pressure check if you:
already have high blood pressure and have had your blood pressure checked by a healthcare professional in the past 6 months
What happens when you get your blood pressure checked
A pharmacist, or member of the pharmacy team, will wrap a blood pressure cuff around your upper arm to measure your blood pressure. They will then share the result with you.
Depending on the result, they might:
give you advice to support healthy living
give you a blood pressure monitor to take home with you and return later advise you to see a GP
If you’re registered with a GP surgery, your GP health record will be updated.
To find a pharmacy near you that offers free blood pressure checks, click on the link below!
Or pop into your local pharmacy and ask about a `Free blood pressure check.`
-
Advice and Information -
GP Practice services have changed to meet increasing demand and respond to local health care needs.
Healthwatch Hartlepool have produced a booklet called "Top Tips for Accessing your GP Practise", that gives advice and information on the many services available at your local GP practice.
Click here to download our booklet! -
Advice and Information -
Do you struggle to speak to your doctor about your medical concerns? You’re not alone. Take a look at our top tips to make the most out of your GP appointment. -
Advice and Information -
Waiting for planned medical care or surgery can be a frustrating time. That’s why it’s so important that while you wait, you get regular, clear and accessible updates so that you can plan your next steps. -
Report -
We conducted an enter and view at the emergency assessment unit. Read about our findings and the recommendations we sent to the service following our visit. -
Report -
We conducted an enter and view to Ward 29. Find out about our findings and the recommendations we put to the service following our visit. -
Report -
Read about our enter and view to North Tees Hospital ward 36, where we spoke to patients and staff. -
Report -
Read our enter and view report for ward 31 at North Tees Hospital, where we spoke to patients and staff about the care they received. -
Report -
Read our enter and view report when we visited North Tees Hospital ward 24. Our report contains what people told us about their care, and our recommendations. -
Report -
Read our enter and view report into ward 41 at North Tees Hospital and the recommendations we put forward following our visit. -
Report -
Read our enter and view report from visiting Holdforth Unit and North Tees Hospital and the recommendations we put forward following our visit. -
Report -
Healthwatch Hartlepool Enter & View investigation in to Ward 27 at North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Trust Hospital after a number of issues/concerns were raised. -
Report -
Read our enter and view report into ward 28 of North Tees Hospital and what staff and patients told us about the care they received. -
Report -
This visit occurred due to patient reports of lengthy waits between first assessment and first visit. -
Report -
Read about our year, our projects and successes over the last year in our latest annual report. -
Report -
Read our annual report and an overview of the biggest projects we carried out over the last year, and how these have improved care across Hartlepool. -
News -
The urgent care team in Hartlepool is reminding its community about the health issues it can help you with.
-
Report -
This was our first physical enter & view visit conducted since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic to a hospital setting. The team were very impressed with the visit. Find out how the visit went and if there were any recommendations. -
Report -
In 2014 Healthwatch Hartlepool conducted a major investigation of hospital discharge from North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals following a high number of concerns received from patients, family members and carer providers with regard to experience of the discharge process and subsequent care provision. Following our investigation, a report was produced which made a series of recommendations around changes and developments we considered were needed in order to improve care provision and patient experience of the discharge process. -
Report -
The Healthwatch Hartlepool Annual report for 2022/23 is now available to view or download.
Click on the link below! -
Report -
Healthwatch Hartlepool recognises that many people in Hartlepool are significantly affected by health inequalities and high levels of ill-health. The delivery of supportive and appropriate hospital discharge services in the town are vital and play a major part in ensuring patients experience and subsequent recouperation are maximised.
On completion of our Hospital Discharge report in March 2023 various recommendations were made and Healthwatch Hartlepool undertook to re-visit the service early in 2024 to speak to patients and assess how the service has developed over the past year.
-
Response -
Tell us about your recent experiences with local services over the last 12 months and we can help make your voice heard. The information you provide will be stored safely and used anonymously. Take a look at our website www.healthwatchhartlepool.co.uk to find out what we did as a result of people’s feedback last year.