The latest news and updates from the Healthwatch team

Hospital Discharge Project

• The end of 2018 saw the completion of visits to people’s homes for the hospital discharge project. 
• Having interviewed 80 patients in hospital, we followed 49 of these people after their discharge from hospital, to find out how things turned out once they returned home. 
• As a result of their experiences, we were able to suggest ten recommendations for improvement to the discharge process.

Lay Assessors

• Over the last quarter, our Lay Assessors visited 56 homes and spoke to residents about the home care service they receive.
• The residents and their families told us what they liked about their carers, the service they receive and what changes they felt could be made.
• On a monthly basis we report these finding to Brighton and Hove City Council, so they can ensure the home care providers maintain the highest quality of service and make improvements where needed.

Regular Hospital Audits and Complaints Work

• Our regular work continues in the hospital and we are exploring the possibility of extending our work into new areas. Our latest environmental audit of the elderly people’s wards in the Barry building (Bristol, Chichester, Jowers and Vallance) demonstrated the benefits and impact of our work in helping to improve the hospital environment. 
• Having previously visited these wards in July last year and raising a number of concerns with the Trust, we were very pleased to observe during our latest visit, significant improvements across all wards.
• Staff working on these wards, spoke to our volunteers and said they were appreciative of our visits as they helped to make positive changes.

New Projects

Dental care in Care homes  

• Healthwatch recently began a new project in care homes.  We are visiting Homes across the city, with elderly residents, residents with learning difficulties and residents with mental health conditions.
• We are speaking to residents and staff who work in the care homes. 
• We are asking questions about who cares for their teeth (themselves or do family or staff help), and about access to dentists.

GP Review

Our last GP Review was conducted in 2017.  We are launching the next Review in Spring this year.  Watch this space for updates.