News & reports

The King's Fund, an independent health research and policy organisation, has just published a report looking at how local Healthwatch have worked with their residents and decision-makers in the NHS and local government. Healthwatch Southend was pleased to be invited to take part in the research. It comes at a time when we expect the Government to publish a Bill which will abolish Healthwatch Southend and the 150 other local services. It will propose that NHS integrated care

Healthwatch Southend is inviting Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) to take part in a focus group about their experiences of using general practice (GP services). We want to hear directly from Deaf people about what works well, what does not, and what needs to improve when accessing GP services. Why are we doing this? In 2023, Healthwatch Southend held focus groups with Deaf people and found significant inequalities in access to GP services. These included: Lack

The NHS is planning to launch a new service, offering adult patients the chance to have an online outpatient appointment with a consultant in another part of the country. This should mean shorter waiting times and less travel. It is hoped the new NHS Online NHS Trust will be up and running from 2027. It forms part of the NHS 10 Year Plan and it is hoped that some 8 million appointments will be offered in the first three years. Starting with gynaecology, urology, gastroenter