What are Cookies
Cookies are small text files which are transferred to your computer or mobile when you visit a website or app. We use them to help us understand how people are using our services, so we can make them better.
Please be aware that some systems on our website require the use of cookies, however where non-essential cookies are in use, we will only collect the information with your permission.
They improve your experience by:
- Remembering settings and information (like the names of health or social care services you've searched for) so you don't have to keep re-entering them.
- Helping us understand how people are using our website, so we can make your experience even better
- Telling us if our emails have been read and if you find them useful
Types of cookies and how we use them
First party cookies
First party cookies are our own. We control them and use them to provide information about the way you use our website.
Has_js
Some parts of our website use javascript - a web language - to display content. If your web browser has javascript disabled, it helps us to know so that we can display the page to you in another way. This cookie allows our website to know if you have javascript enabled or not.
healthwatch_cookiecontrol
This maintains the open/closed state of the "Cookie Control" dialog.
lang
This is set by the Twitter widget and simply stores a language code.
Third party cookies
Third party cookies are set by someone other than the owner of the Healthwatch site. For example, when you share a link from our website onto your social media platform, the platform may set a cookie on your browser.
We have no control over third-party cookies, you can turn them off but not via Healthwatch England. You should check the other websites for more information about their cookies.
Functional, performance and advertising cookies
We also use functional, performance and advertising cookies to make your experience more enjoyable. If you don’t want to enable these cookies you can select ‘decline’ in the cookies banner.
We will only use this cookie type if you have agreed. See below for examples of these cookies and how we use them at Healthwatch Sandwell.
Measuring website usage through Google analytics
We use Google Analytics to view statistics on the way you use our website. We can check:
- how many people have visited our website and what content they look at.
- how many times documents have been downloaded.
- what people are looking for on our website. We use the following third-party cookies set by Google Analytics.
For more information, please read Google's Privacy Policy at www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
How long do cookies last?
Some are erased when you close your website browser. Others stay longer and are saved onto your device when you come back. Some can be deleted by deleting your browser history.
Managing the cookies on your computer
You can restrict or block cookies set by our website and others by changing the settings in your browser. However, doing this may impact the way our website works for you in the future.
Visit the About Cookies website to find out more about restricting or blocking cookies in different browsers.
You can also learn more about cookies on the DirectGov website.