Rye Listening Tour 2023

Our 2023 ‘Listening Tour’ has captured feedback and experiences of health and care services from residents living in Rye and the surrounding villages.

What we heard:

• Whilst frustrations remain about speed of access to appointments, people’s appreciation of positive GP experiences was clear, with people sharing examples of good care from a range of staff at practices once they were able to access appointments.
• Issues involving transport were raised by residents throughout our activity. With poor public transport provision, the cost of transport and difficulty in accessing patient transport services impacting people’s ability to access health and care services.
• Patients reported that services don’t appear to record, accommodate or make appropriate adjustments for those with communication requirements, with people’s needs not being met and miscommunication leading to poorer health outcomes.
• A number of areas outside of Rye, such as Camber and Icklesham, have seen local services and particularly GP provision reduced, resulting in patients having to travel further to access health care or feeling isolated within their communities.
• People shared their positive experiences at the Conquest Hospital. People reported hard working staff and feeling safe and supported at the Emergency Department, as inpatients and during outpatient appointments.

Through surveys, focus groups, one to one conversations and events we received feedback from over 300 individuals, as well as from health professionals, service commissioners, community groups and voluntary sector organisations.

Our reports

We have collated all that we heard and summarised it along with our conclusions and recommendations in our Listening Tour 2023 – Headlines Report:

Rye Listening Tour 2023  Report