News and reports

The majority of smokers we heard from in our Voices for Change: Shaping Stop Smoking Services Together report had been smoking for more than 20 years and 90 percent had previously tried to quit.

Many said that if stop smoking services were more local, accessible and in-person, they would be more likely to engage with them.

Children and young people are often discussed but rarely consulted. It's time to change that.

Read more about our November 2025 Board meeting in public. This time the Board discussed key internal and external changes, findings from our 'Golden Threads' branch of work, as well as looked at our recent contract monitoring submission.

We have responded to the Quality Accounts from 10 NHS providers in our area to ensure people’s experiences are captured and play an active role in influencing local healthcare.

Drug and/or alcohol use and poor mental health often go “hand in hand” and the two need to be treated in a joined-up way to achieve the best results.

Based on 1,700 responses, our People’s Voices, Local Choices Report highlights that people with long-term conditions and neurodiversity report worse health outcomes and experiences.

It has also identified that access to, and availability of, healthcare services needs to be improved and residents want more information about local support.

Craniosynostosis is a rare and often underrecognised condition in which one or more of a baby’s skull plates fuse prematurely—typically before or shortly after birth—hindering normal skull and brain growth. The condition produces distinctive head shapes and may lead to elevated intracranial pressure or other complications if left untreated.

Diabulimia is a widely-used term to describe an eating disorder unique to people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) who deliberately reduce or skip insulin to lose weight. In clinical language, it's increasingly referred to as type 1 diabetes with disordered eating (T1DE) or ED-DMT1.

Read more about our August 2025 Board meeting in public. This time the Board discussed changes to our Annual Business Plan and Research Programme, as well as taking a look at our recent contract monitoring submission.

Veterans, reservists, serving personnel and military families across Hertfordshire have told us about accessing healthcare and how the NHS can improve the support they provide.

Announcing our next AGM, where we will be feeding back on our impact and insights from the year and hearing a key note speech from Jo Marovitch, Chief Executive at Herts Mind Network titled: "Speaking from the Belly: Truth, Trust and Tenacity".

As a Healthwatch, we listen to the voices of people to learn about their healthcare experiences and champion for change.

In this report, we heard from refugees and asylum seekers, who face significant health inequalities – for example, they are five times more likely to have mental health support needs. They arrive here with significant trauma, which exacerbates their difficulties in accessing health and care services, in addition to the challenges faced by all Hertfordshire residents.