The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every walk of life. HWS had spoken to many of adults (aged 18+) who have had their support services disrupted or paused during the pandemic.
The target population in this project were homeless people in Sandwell. Homelessness has a number of guises, for the purpose of the project HWS engaged with those:
During the period July – September 2020 Healthwatch Sandwell has collated patient experiences. In addition, we have received service user experiences/feedback via our web-based ‘Feedback Centre’ and since its inception in July 2019 we have received over 220 experiences/comments shared across NHS and Social Care Services.
HWS in partnership with SDCA have created a focus group for deaf and hard of hearing people to share their health and social care experiences in Sandwell. Please find attached our report following a focus group held on the 22nd of September 2020.
From April 2020 to June 2020 HWS undertook a focused piece of work to establish the overall picture of the GP services on offer in Sandwell in the early phases of Covid-19 and the patients experiences of the GP services.
The work that Healthwatch Sandwell has undertaken over the last year was driven by the determination to make a difference and this report highlights where we have achieved this. For example: