1. Feeling Good Week 2021 – Get Involved!

    News -

    Feeling Good Week is a Hertfordshire-wide event that encourages schools and the wider community to promote children and young people’s emotional wellbeing.

  2. Don’t Rely on GP Websites for Cancer Information…Speak to your GP

    News -

    With the help of our volunteers we checked 103 local GP websites, and found that while most offered advice for patients about cancer, the quantity and quality of that advice was not always very good.

  3. Data Sharing and Health – Get Involved!

    News -

    We are working with the University of Cambridge, Public Health England and other local Healthwatch across the East of England to find out what people think about using health data to inform care, public health and research.

  4. Covid-19 Patient Experiences – What can Hertfordshire learn?

    News -

    During the first lockdown, we celebrated the NHS and others who put their own health at risk to deliver what services they could. However, there have been challenges and concerns raised about how patients have been affected.

  5. By talking to us you have helped to make Annual Health Checks better

    News -

    We have been working with Herts County Council to find out what people with learning disabilities, their carers and support workers think about Annual Health Checks. The response was fantastic and our report is now available.

  6. Opportunity for Veterans to have their say about access to Healthcare

    News -

    Did you know that according to ONS data, there are approximately 36,000 veterans living in Hertfordshire? However, as in other parts of the country, there is relatively little data on specific health issues or priorities of the veteran community.

  7. A message from our Chief Executive: What we are doing to help tackle Coronavirus

    News -

    Healthwatch Hertfordshire’s Chief Executive Geoff Brown has an important message for us all.

  8. Hertfordshire County Council Survey: Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2020

    News -

    Please read more to find out how you can have an impact on the way pharmaceutical services are commissioned in Hertfordshire in the future.

  9. Proposed move of Moorfields Eye Hospital

    News -

    Plans are in place to move Moorfields Eye Hospital to a new location and design a new patient friendly centre.

  10. Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Review – Update

    News -

    Healthwatch Hertfordshire alongside Healthwatch Hillingdon has been supporting the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Review led by NHS England Specialised Commissioning.

  11. Feeling Good Week – February 2020

    News -

    Feeling Good Week is a Hertfordshire-wide event to encourage schools and the wider community to promote children and young people’s emotional wellbeing by raising awareness of mental health and showing where support can be accessed in the community.

  12. Members of the public needed for Public and Community Involvement, Engagement and Participation Coordinating Group

    News -

    The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) are seeking three members who represent patients, service users, carers and the public to become part of a Public and Community Involvement, Engagement and Participation Coordinating Group (PCEIP).

  13. End of Life Steering Group – can you help?

    News -

    The End of Life Steering Group for the Hertfordshire and West Essex STP wants to understand the current provision of bereavement services available to communities across Hertfordshire and West Essex in order to identify gaps in service provision.

  14. Lasting Power of Attorney Online Testing Event

    News -

    Healthwatch Hertfordshire worked with the Office Of the Public Guardian (OPG) to test out a new way for attorneys and donors to give organisations access to view an online summary of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

  15. Important Report on Dual Diagnosis published

    News -

    We have just published our report on Dual Diagnosis, which originated in 2016. The primary focus being to ensure the service user and carer experience fed into the Dual Diagnosis pathway and protocol (now developed).

  16. Herts Pride 2019!

    News -

    On Saturday 31st August we had the pleasure of spending the day at Herts Pride. at Cassiobury Park in Watford. It proved a huge success with over 2,500 people from inside and outside Hertfordshire attending!

  17. Carers’ Involvement: Mental Health Inpatient Discharge – Advisory Group

    News -

    Healthwatch Hertfordshire is working with Hertfordshire University Partnership Trust (HPFT) to research how carers are involved and supported when the person they care for has been discharged from inpatient mental health services.

  18. Lasting Power of Attorney Research

    News -

    The Office of the Public Guardian is developing a new way for attorneys and donors to give organisations, such as hospitals, banks and care homes, access to view an online summary of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

  19. East & North Herts CCG – have your say on proposed changes to Urgent Care Centre opening hours

    News -

    East and North Hertfordshire CCG is talking to the public, NHS staff and stakeholders about its proposal to close the Urgent Care Centre at the New QEII Hospital overnight.

  20. Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Review

    News -

    The Mount Vernon Cancer Centre provides outpatient chemotherapy, nuclear medicine, brachytherapy and haematology as well as radiotherapy.

  21. HPFT Rated ‘Outstanding’

    News -

    Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) have received an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

  22. Meeting with Paul Burstow, STP Chair

    News -

    Yesterday, our Chair Steve and our Chief Executive Geoff met with Paul Burstow, the new chair of the Hertfordshire and West Essex Sustainability Transformation Partnership (STP) and former Minister of State for Care Services.

  23. IVF Treatment Returns

    News -

    In October 2017, Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group (HVCCG) took the decision to withdraw all funding for IVF treatment, which is one of several techniques to help people with fertility problems having a baby.

  24. NHS Long Term Plan

    News -

    With growing pressure on the NHS – an ageing population, more people living with long-term conditions, and lifestyle choices affecting people’s health – changes are needed to make sure everybody gets the support they need.

  25. Redbourn Health Centre Meeting

    News -

    Priya recently attended a meeting about the merger of Redbourn Health Centre, which became a part of the Lodge Group in 2018.

  26. Breast Cancer Now: Young Women at Risk Should Get Early Breast Scans

    News -

    A new report gives evidence that lowering the starting age to 35 for some women detects cancers which are significantly smaller in size and less likely to have spread.

  27. Viewpoint Update: February 2019

    News -

    As part of our role working closer with Viewpoint we will be bringing you regular updates on the work that they are doing.

  28. Well done Herts Community Trust

    News -

    CQC has released a report following a routine inspection of Herts Community Trust in September 2019. Services have once again been rated as Good.

  29. Herts County Council Co-production

    News -

    Today Paul and Priya attended a Herts County Council Co-Production meeting in Stevenage. The aim was to talk to service users about their views on co-production.

  30. #WhatWouldYouDo

    News -

    Healthwatch England have produced a lovely bit of animation quickly summing up the importance of staying engaged. This is the beginning of a new campaign to find out exactly what kind of changes the public would make to help improve the NHS.

  31. Hertswise Telephone Mystery Shopping Project

    News -

    For 3 weeks at the end of June into July when we basked in a long hot summer, a number of our volunteers were busy completing mystery shopping telephone calls to Herts Help to test out the triaging system for the AGE UK Hertswise Dementia Services.

  32. #ItStartsWithYou

    News -

    #ItStartsWithYou campaign launches in Hertfordshire with three stories. Healthwatch Hertfordshire today launches a campaign to encourage people across the country to share their experiences to help make health and care better for their community.

  33. Princess Alexandra Hospital Trials Volunteer-only PLACE audits

    News -

    The Princess Alexandra Hospital) in Harlow serves our East Herts residents. Last October they invited our Enter and View team into the hospital to carry out a visit and this year they invited us back to see how the environment has changed.

  34. Restart a Heart Day – Oct 16th

    News -

    Our friends at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) are urging secondary schools to sign up to a lifesaving lesson this autumn.

  35. Patient Denied MMR Vaccination

    News -

    Following a phone call from a member of the public, Healthwatch Hertfordshire were surprised to learn that a GP surgery was denying the MMR vaccination to an adult who had not yet received it.

  36. National No Smoking Day

    News -

    Herts County Council have asked us to share some great news! Smoking in Hertfordshire declines as e-cigarette popularity grows.

  37. Enter and View: Lister Hospital

    News -

    Another day, another fantastic Enter & View visit. On Wednesday the 7th March a team of Enter and View volunteers were at the Lister Hospital checking out patient experience.

  38. Healthwatch England Launch Annual Report to Parliament

    News -

    Over the last year Healthwatch has heard from 341,000 people, carers and staff, all of whom have given their time to share their experiences of health and social care services.

  39. CQC Publish 359 Reports

    News -

    In the past week, the Care Quality Commission has published 359 reports on services which have been inspected by specialist teams of inspectors.

  40. Hatfield Healthfest and Beyond!

    News -

    We attended Hatfield Healthfest on Saturday 23rd September which gave us a great opportunity to get out and talk to people in the community.

  41. East of England Ambulance Service to provide non-emergency transport Service

    News -

    The East of England Ambulance has been awarded a caretaker contract to provide non-emergency patient transport in Bedfordshire, Luton and Hertfordshire.

  42. PLACE 2017: What Our Volunteers Did

    News -

    Find out what our volunteers reported when they visited four sites in Hertfordshire this year to assess non-clinical services on behalf of Healthwatch Hertfordshire.

  43. NHS Consultation: Last Chance!

    News -

    There’s not long left until this important consultation closes! Although there has been a good response rate so far, there are still many of you who haven’t shared your views yet.

  44. Herts Aid Football Tournament

    News -

    At the end of July Paul and Alice were lucky enough to be able to attend the Herts Aid Football Football Tournament Cup.

  45. Digitally Excluded During the Pandemic

    News -

    Find out the reasons for people not being online, and how being digitally excluded has affected people’s experiences during the pandemic.

  46. Getting Local Dentistry Back on Track

    News -

    Healthwatch Hertfordshire has been rallying to help people struggling to access urgent dental care services during the pandemic, ensuring they get the treatment they desperately need.

  47. Mount Vernon Cancer Centre Review: UPDATE

    News -

    We have some news on the latest with the Mount Vernon Cancer Review.

  48. Survey launched to gain views on end of life care in East and North Hertfordshire

    News -

    Across East and North Hertfordshire, a new survey has been launched to gain vital feedback on end of life care to help improve services and share learnings.

  49. Improving Health Outcomes for people with a Learning Disability

    News -

    We worked with our Learning Disability Service Watch Group to co-produce an Annual Health Check research project. The focus of the work was to investigate the uptake and quality of Annual Health Checks from the Learning Disability Community.

  50. Healthwatch England investigates GP access during COVID-19

    News -

    The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way people access their GP practice and a report by Healthwatch England has found not everyone is pleased with these changes.