What we heard through enquiries in 2022-23

What we heard

We heard more than 600 experiences of health and care from the public and patients during 2022 23 via our Information & Signposting Service and our Feedback Centre. This included good, bad and indifferent feedback, with many stories highlighting things that worked well and where improvement is needed.

We heard people experiencing challenges with basic issues such as booking appointments, communication within and between services, and challenges in understanding how services worked. We also heard from an increasing number of people with complex stories and situations, often those with multiple needs and where more than one service was involved.

What we’ve done

We have worked to assist individuals and families in getting support that meets their needs, by providing information in various forms, signposting to other organisations and liaising with services directly. We have also engaged NHS, care and decision makers to embed best practice and to support change to meet the needs of service users.

During 2022-23, we:

• Developed advice articles, bulletins and newsletter items to keep people up to date with health and care issues and service changes.
• Changed our data recording and reporting processes so we are better placed to organise and interpret our insight.
• Captured the experiences of residents of Emergency and Temporary Accommodation to understand their needs and how they could be supported.
• Commented on and contributed to the development of the Sussex Integrated Care Board’s [NHS Sussex] Complaints Policy .
• Distributed leaflets, posters and promotional materials on Healthwatch and Advocacy services to all GP practices across East Sussex to raise public awareness of these
  services.

What we’re planning

Over the next 12 months we have plan to develop our service so we can hear more experiences, and use these to support improvements in health and care across East Sussex.

During 2023-24, we aim to:

• Deliver our Information & Signposting outreach sessions at events and across a range of locations in East Sussex.
• Provide advice and information on health and care to residents of Lewes Prison through regular visits.
• Continue to evolve the online advice section of the Healthwatch East Sussex website so people can access pro-active advice and guidance, and support self-care.
• Share the feedback we receive with key decision-makers and local services so they can use people’s experiences in developing local services.
• Increase awareness of the role of advocacy support for patients and the public, including amongst service commissioners and providers.