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Advice and Information -
Our local NHS services are here to help you stay well, safely. Do not delay getting help for your health this winter. -
Report -
We worked with West Herts Hospital Trust to review the quality of their final response letters to complainants. Complainants are people who have made a complaint to Trust about the care or treatment they received. Read about what we found here. -
Report -
West Herts Hospital Trust asked us to repeat a qualitative review of their final response letters to complainants. This was to assess what improvements had been in response to our previous recommendations. Read more here. -
Report -
We were asked to support a local Oral Health Needs Assessment on 'Access to Primary Care Dental Services'. Find out what local residents had to say about their experiences of dental services. -
Report -
In response to local feedback about complaints processes, as well as Healthwatch England's report 'Suffering in Silence', we launched our own research into how complaints handling works locally, and what could be improved. -
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. -
News -
The CQC said it was unacceptable for any do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions to be made without proper conversations with the individual, or an appropriate representative, taking into account their wishes and needs. -
News -
The King’s Fund and Healthwatch England have jointly called for urgent action to address hospital waiting lists and improve patients’ experience of delays to treatment. -
News -
The NHS has published a plan for improving access to GP appointments for patients alongside supporting GPs and their teams. -
News -
Healthwatch England has co-signed an open letter addressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak calling for a recovery plan for NHS dentistry. -
News -
Everybody is entitled to access equal and fair treatment from the NHS. But current ethnic inequalities in healthcare mean this is not always the case. -
News -
By working together with patients, GPs and the NHS, we are helping tackle the widespread concerns voiced by patients about accessing GP services since the pandemic. -
News -
Healthwatch England research has provided a stark reminder that decision-makers must act quickly to improve dentistry. -
News -
Our ground-breaking Hertfordshire research has found that up to 45 per cent of Black and Asian respondents felt they had been discriminated against in a healthcare setting, with many believing this was because of their ethnicity. -
Report -
In our latest report, Making Local Healthcare Equal: Healthcare Concerns in Black and Asian Communities, residents shared powerful stories with us, leading to our NHS taking action in tackling ethnic health inequalities. -
News -
October is Black History Month and at Healthwatch Hertfordshire we are committed to this year's theme - Time for Change: Actions Not Words. -
Report -
Local NHS leaders have reiterated their commitment to supporting patients and working to improve access to services with the publication of a Healthwatch report into access to general practice services for parents of children and young people. -
News -
Many parents and carers have faced serious problems trying to make GP appointments for their child, sometimes waiting more than an hour to speak to a receptionist, only to be told there are no appointments available. -
Report -
Local NHS leaders have reiterated their commitment to supporting patients and working with them to improve access to general practice services in Broxbourne with the publication of a report by Healthwatch Hertfordshire. -
News -
A survey asking Broxbourne residents to tell us about local GP access has shown that 64% of respondents found it ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to get through to a receptionist by phone – with many waiting up to an hour. -
News -
Access to GPs and dentists, along with issues relating to hospitals and mental health care, are the top concerns you've been sharing with us over the past six months through our Signposting service. -
Advice and Information -
Take a look at our advice article on the organisations and groups that can support you if you’re grieving. -
Advice and Information -
Self-isolation, social distancing and shielding have been introduced by the Government to help you and your loved ones stay safe from COVID-19. Find out what they mean in practice and what applies to you. -
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. -
News -
Healthwatch Hertfordshire CEO Geoff Brown reflects on learning from the pandemic from a Healthwatch and patient perspective during an eventful year. -
News -
Our Annual Report 2019/20 is now published online. The report details the work that we have been doing over the past year to help the patient voice in Hertfordshire and to recommend improvements to health and social care services. -
Advice and Information -
As older people are at an increased risk of severe illness, NHS and Government guidance advises that older people need to be particularly stringent in following social distancing and staying at home. -
Advice and Information -
On the 22nd of June, the Government updated the advice for those shielding. The new advice is being carried out in two phases on 6th of July and 1st of August. The advice takes into account the reduction in COVID-19 infection rates in recent weeks. -
Advice and Information -
From Monday 15th June in line with Government recommendations, outpatients and visitors attending hospital must wear a face covering at all times to help prevent the spread of injection and keep everyone safe. -
Advice and Information -
From Monday, 1 June, people who are shielding are able to go out once a day for exercise but they must maintain social distancing.
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Advice and Information -
The NHS has contacted people who are at risk of severe illness if they catch coronavirus – this is because they have an underlying health condition which makes them clinically extremely vulnerable. -
Advice and Information -
Data has shown that the number of people going to A&E has dropped, prompting concerns that the seriously ill may be staying away because of concerns about catching coronavirus, or not wanting to place additional burden on the NHS.
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Advice and Information -
The Commission on Human Medicines has now confirmed that there is no clear evidence that using ibuprofen to treat symptoms such as a high temperature can make coronavirus (COVID-19) worse. -
Advice and Information -
You may have heard the word ‘shielding’ in reference to coronavirus. Shielding is the word used to describe how to protect those at highest risk of severe illness if they catch coronavirus. -
Advice and Information -
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the NHS is encouraging people, especially those at the highest risk of COVID-19, to talk about their preferences for end of life care.
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Advice and Information -
Grief is something people experience when someone close to use dies. People react in different ways when someone dies, and there is no right or wrong way to feel.
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Advice and Information -
In line with government guidelines, the vast majority of the public in Hertfordshire are protecting themselves and others from coronavirus by staying at home.
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Advice and Information -
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, there have been local changes to the NHS provision of non-essential outpatient appointments. -
Advice and Information -
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is affecting all our daily lives. Social distancing and self-isolation in particular can be difficult to cope with, and can have a significant impact on our mental health -
Advice and Information -
The Integrated Musculoskeletal (MSK) services in Herts Valleys have now moved all appointments to either virtual or telephone appointments.
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News -
How you can contribute to the health service’s efforts in this difficult time - East of England Ambulance Service are looking to recruit temporary workers.
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News -
Healthwatch Hertfordshire’s Chief Executive Geoff Brown has an important message for us all. -
Advice and Information -
In light of recent Public Health and Healthwatch England advice we have been reviewing our activity in response to the coronavirus outbreak. -
Advice and Information -
In response to the current crisis surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), please see below some key information that we hope will be useful to the public within Hertfordshire and beyond. -
Advice and Information -
The Coronavirus outbreak is placing huge press on our local hospitals. So that they can look after patients with acute needs, hospitals are changing the way patients are discharged -
Advice and Information -
The Coronavirus outbreak is placing huge pressure on our local hospitals. So that they can look after patients with acute needs, hospitals are changing the way patients are discharged. -
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. -
Advice and Information -
This live webchat service, which launched in August, has helped over 1,100 people in the first two months, including service users, carers and health and care professionals. -
News -
‘Lockdown’ has been named the 2020 Collins Dictionary word of the year. Others that made the top 10 list included furlough, key worker, self-isolate, social distancing and Coronavirus -
Advice and Information -
To keep urgent NHS services safe and to make sure that they are available for everyone who needs them, an appointment system for urgent and emergency care is being introduced across the country from 1 December.
