News and reports

Would you be surprised to learn that there are no national figures on how many people miss GP or NHS appointments? 

At the start of 2018, we see yet more changes to GP practices in Brighton and Hove. Unlike some previous changes these seem to herald improvements and increases in capacity, helping GP's take on more patients.

Young Healthwatch Brighton and Hove was created in 2017 in partnership with the YMCA Downslink Project, and operates through their 'Right Here' project. 

In our last newsletter we described the further work that Healthwatch would be undertaking to see how Patient Transport Services were performing. During November and December, our Enter and View representatives returned to the Royal Sussex County Hospital to speak to patients who were using the service.

Healthwatch visited 29 surgeries in the city as part of the GP review. At each surgery the Healthwatch team observed the patient-friendliness of the environment paying attention to the comfort of the waiting area, appointment call systems, communication with patients, display of information, general hygiene and toilet facilities.

A new survey for NHS patients and carers or family members is available.

NHS England has launched a public consultation on proposals to rein in prescriptions for some ‘over the counter’ products such as dandruff shampoo and drops for tired eyes, in order to free-up funding to expand other treatments for major conditions such as cancer and mental health problems.

The Ardingly Court GP Practice operates over two sites – the city centre site at Ardingly Street and the Whitehawk site at the Wellsbourne Health Centre.

Healthwatch has been at the forefront of efforts to monitor the quality of Sussex's Patient Transport Service and improve the standard of the service after problems experienced with Coperforma.

In October 2017 NHS Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) agreed a temporary reduction in the opening hours at Rottingdean Surgery in Meadow Parade.

There are currently cases of the highly contagious Norovirus vomiting bug on several wards at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

National survey shows most children and young people report good experiences of hospital care, but highlights some areas for improvement.