Healthwatch Rotherham: insights on care and feedback

Healthwatch Rotherham’s annual report for 2022/23 revealed 391 people came to the organisation for advice and information about topics such as mental health and the cost of living crisis.

Nearly 1,500 people also shared their experiences of health and social care services with Healthwatch Rotherham – currently marking its tenth year of operation – helping to raise awareness of local issues and improve care.

Throughout the year, Healthwatch Rotherham published five reports about the improvements people would like to see in health and social care services, including one highlighting the barriers faced by residents with English as an additional language trying to access GP services.

As reported in the Advertiser in April, more than half of people surveyed told Healthwatch they were left “scared and confused” as they were unable to understand discussions in their medical appointment. 

As a result, Healthwatch made recommendations for an increase in translator availability to South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. 

Healthwatch Rotherham also highlighted issues with accessing defibrillators in Rotherham town centre, after teaming up with Cllr Adam Tinsley and discovering almost half were showing as “not available” on a defib finder website despite being advertised as accessible 24/7.

The healthcare champion and the councillor’s combined efforts ensured the owners of the defibrillators made regular checks and carried out maintenance to allow 24/7 accessibility, as we reported in January.

Healthwatch also identified the lack of a comprehensive local service booklet for people in Rotherham and developed and published its own, highlighting local and national services – in areas including emergency care, urgent care, mental health, adult social care, and children and young people’s services – and is looking to create more in-depth directories on specific topics in the future.

The organisation also ran successful online events on subjects including cancer and how to make Rotherham more “age friendly” and launched bi-weekly sessions on its website, newsletter and social media to gather anonymous feedback, both good and bad, about services, which was then passed on to service providers.

Chairman John Barber said: “Patient feedback can have a real influence on service provision and quality.”