News and reports

Sheraton Court is a purpose built care home in the north of Hartlepool offering general residential and residential memory care for those living with dementia. It is a large 80 bed home, and all rooms are en-suite. Primary care categories include dementia, older person care, physical disability, respite care and sensory impairment. This was the first visit to Sheraton Court since before the outbreak of the Covid Pandemic in 2020.

On December 4th 2023 Healthwatch Hartlepool conducted its first ever visit to Merlin Manor. In the report which was published following the visit recommendations were made in relation to areas in which it was considered development was required. Consequently, a return visit to Merlin manor was scheduled to take place within 12 months of the original visit to review progress.

The Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board is a statutory body working across the four local boroughs to effectively prevent and respond to adult abuse.

The Community Wellbeing Champion Awards are a celebration of Hartlepool’s often unsung heroes who selflessly make a difference to the wellbeing and lives of others in their community. We are looking for nominations for two Wellbeing Champions, one for a Young Champion (aged under 18) and one for an Adult Champion (aged 18+)

Download an Easy Read version of our 'Have your say' form.
Take five minutes to share your experiences
We work to make sure health and care services are the best they can be for the people who use them.
We want to know if you think there are things that health and care services can do to improve.
We have created an interactive Easy Read version of our 'Have your say' form to help more people share their views with us.

Let's talk about what matters to women and girls about their health.
In our region, we want better and fairer health for all women and girls. Even with the progress we've made, women and girls still face challenges when it comes to their health. We want to change this.
Listening and acting on the views and experiences of women is a key part of making the changes we want to see happen – which is why we have launched our BIG conversation to better understand what's working well and what we can improve. The views we hear will directly feed into our plans for the women's health in the region.
Please fill in a short survey, to have your say, by 8th September. If you fill in the survey, you can join a prize draw for a £100 Love to Shop voucher.
Working with Healthwatch we will also be running six focus groups alongside this survey. These groups will reach out to women from seldom heard groups such as people with a learning disability, unpaid carers, and women with maternal mental health challenges.

The Healthwatch Hartlepool Annual report for 2023/24 is now available to view or download.

Click here to download!

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.

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!

Healthwatch Hartlepool Newsletter for March is now available to download
Click on the link!

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.`

Merlin Manor is a new, purpose built care home situated on the Bishop Cuthbert estate in Hartlepool. It is registered to provide personal and nursing care for up to 94 people. The home supports older people, those with physical disabilities or sensory impairments and people living with dementia. At the time of our visit there were 78 residents.