The Manager of Healthwatch Dorset introduced the
item and gave an overview of the projects undertaken over the last
year.
- Local interviews
were undertaken with people using accident and emergency (A&E)
services at Poole hospital. The report had been completed and was
to be published in one week’s time.
- 147 service users
had been surveyed by the Healthwatch Dorset volunteers. Of these
people, the overwhelming majority gave positive feedback of the
A&E service based on their
experience.
- Recommendations
were made following compilation of the survey data. These
recommendations included: improved signage at A&E and improved
information, support given to people waiting in A&E and support
and aftercare following discharge from A&E. Healthwatch would
continue to work with Poole hospital to implement the
recommendations from their report.
- Healthwatch had
also surveyed dental practices across both BCP and Dorset,
primarily to see if any practices were taking on new NHS patients.
Out of the 97 dental practices that responded only 2 said they were
accepting new patients (one in BCP and one in Swanage). There were another 25 dental practices
yet to be surveyed.
- Healthwatch would
be able to share this data to Committee once it goes to the
regional meetings in the near
future.
- Healthwatch Dorset
would soon publish their report on homelessness; scheduled for
publication in the coming weeks. This report included work
conducted alongside the Care Quality Commission on the ways they
contact people from different communities. This report included
findings from the Dentaid charity for
homeless people.
- Work on the Think
Big Project had – hospital pop up clinic based at the Dolphin
Centre in Poole that was planned to open in the following
links.
- Healthwatch had
conducted their Vaccine survey, receiving 900 responses. The data
was currently being analysed and would
be fed back to the Committee at a later
date.
Members of Healthwatch
Dorset’s Young Listeners’ Group gave a presentation on
their Young Listener’s Project. The main points were as
follows:
- The Young
Listeners’ Group was made up of a variety of 16-23 year olds across
BCP and Dorset.
- A lot of info had
been gathered throughout the project, but the initial finding from
the current data and surveys was that young people generally do not
feel listened to. This was evident in the Your Mind Your Say
project findings.
- Of those that
individuals that the Young Listener’s Project engaged with,
39 identified as female, 29 identified as male and 2 identified as
non-binary. 19 respondents were residents of Bournemouth, 3 were
residents of Christchurch, 9 were residents of Poole and 39 were
residents of Dorset.
- 86% of respondents
were White British.
- 40% of respondents
considered themselves to have learning
disabilities/difficulty.
- 38% of respondents
considered themselves to have a mental health
condition.
- 95% of young people
felt that health services needed overall
improvement.
- Communication
was seen as one of the areas identified
for real improvement; with one main issue being that services were
not joined up enough.
- 51% of young people
saw their requisite health services communicate with school but 70%
found this communication to be unhelpful.
- Trust was
highlighted as another factor that impacted on young people’s
access and experiences with health
services.
- Many young people
found that they had to repeat their stories to multiple service
providers.
- Members
acknowledged how young people felt frustrated and annoyed by the
experiences. Frustration was the key word young people gave on
their service experience and 92% had to repeat themselves to
multiple services.
- The transition
between child and adult services was rated as very low, poorly
planned and disjointed by the one person who gave feedback on this
specific service.
- Young people felt
that there were numerous assessments that had to take place just to
keep some consistency in their services they
received.
- Young people felt
that there was not a person-centred
approach and that services were impersonal and inflexible.
Furthermore, services were not personalized/designed well enough
for their own, specific needs.
The Young Listener’s,
having assessed the feedback gathered from thei project, gave the following
recommendations:
1) Improve communication between
services to avoid needless repetition and poor comms experienced by
so many young people.
2) Listen! Don’t make empty
promises, summarise points from every
meeting and communicate with the school to keep them up to
date.
3) Personalise services (and speak to the young person
rather than their parent).
4) Listen! Don’t ignore me
or dismiss what I say.
5) Language – use simple,
clear and concise language that everyone
can understand, when talking to us and the information you share to
be readable and understandable.
6) Information – make info
available and accessible for all.
7) Listen! Re-emphasised.
8) Training – hire service
providers who can relate to what young people are going
through.
9) Funding/waiting times –
more funding needs to be available so services can expand and
reduce waiting times. Give longer
appointments.
Overall, 70 young people were
spoken to by the young listeners. The aim was to publish the report
in October and to also share the findings with Dorset
children’s services.
The Committee
asked several questions following the presentation. Answers were
provided by the Director of Commissioning for People. The questions
and responses were:
- The Director of Primary and
Community Care at NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group
explained to the Committee that there were common
themes from what the Young
Listener’s had found and from how health professionals feel.
Healthcare professionals find it hard to navigate the health offer
and understand the young person’s needs. Members heard that
there are a range of services other than CAHMS, and it was
necessary to ensure that young people were directed to and seen at
the right place on the first time of asking. There is a need to
recognise across the entire NHS that
too much is focused around diagnoses
rather than what the individual’s immediate needs
are.
- A member asked the
Young Listener’s Group for examples of communication that
young people would prefer. The Engagement Officer explained that in
the full report there is more detail on this subject, however the
feedback showed that young people wanted was more readily
accessible information on seeable advertisements or posters rather
than a number to call. Communication could also be done and/or
improved within schools.
It was agreed that once the full
Young Listener’s Project report had been published, along
with the dentistry findings, that this would be circulated to
members. Furthermore, the Chair and the Committee requested that an
update be given on the implementation of the Young Listener’s
Project recommendations in a year’s
time.
RESOLVED that the Committee
noted the report.
Voting:
Unanimous.