News and reports

This edition features:
• NEW – Adult K Executive Summary & Learning Briefing covering a number of key themes
• A ‘Spotlight On’ Trauma Informed Practice including useful resources
• An update on Board Activity
• Our training courses for Summer 2023 which are available to BOOK NOW

Click on the link below!

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.

Our visit to Elwick Grange was conducted in a proportionate and responsible manner. Achieved by means of two person visit to the Home and additional virtual discussions with the Manager and HBC Commissioning Team. Read the full report and see our findings.

With the gradual lifting of Covid restrictions it has become possible to reintroduce face to face Enter & View visits and West View Lodge is our fifth "live" visit to a care home. Read our report to see our findings.

Staff past and present, Board members, volunteers and partner organisations came together to share in the success that Healthwatch has achieved to date.
Click on the link below to find out more!

The impact of prescription charges on people living with long term conditions - The Prescription Charges Coalition (PCC) ran a survey between February and March this year.
Click on the link to read their report!

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.

What are the aims of the project?
The research will give autistic people the chance to share their experiences of their autism diagnostic assessment to help us understand the support they received before, during and after the assessment and identify other types of support that might have been helpful. The survey is open to people who: are over 18 and have gone through or are waiting for an autism diagnosis, do not also have a learning disability and live in the North East or North Cumbria region. If this applies to you, please share your experiences with us by completing our online survey using the link below.

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.

Do you look after someone - then who looks after you?
Hartlepool Carers provide support to Carers from 5 years old in Hartlepool, offering information, advice and guidance!

Charlotte Grange is purpose built residential care home close to the centre of town - the home registration covers old age, dementia and physical disability. Have a look at our report and find out how our latest Enter & View Visit went.

New measures to improve access to dental care
A new package of measures to improve patient access to dental care has been introduced by the government.