East Sussex Summer Roadshow Report 2023

We wanted to gather feedback and insight on local health and care services by meeting people where they were, whilst also raising awareness of Healthwatch activity and insight across the county.

The feedback we captured covered a range of health and care services and themes. We heard most about GP’s, hospitals and dentists. We also heard from people who lived and used services across East Sussex and adjacent locations.

Key findings:

• The challenges of accessing NHS Dentistry across the county was raised by many, with people saying they had given up or felt forced to pay for private dental services.

• We heard from people who had concerns about not being able to access GP appointments. Phone queues and delays were raised as an issue for many.   

• Social Care complaints procedures were felt by some people to be confusing and difficult to understand.

• We heard concerns about the digitisation of services, and how this was isolating for some people.

• In some areas of East Sussex, issues were also raised about the distance to get to health and care services, particularly for those in rural communities.

• Better transport systems are needed across the county so people can access services via public and community transport when needed.

• We heard from people who were really happy with the care they received from GP’s practices once they had been able to get appointments.

• People appreciated when their care was supported by clear explanations about process and after care.

Next steps:

• Healthwatch East Sussex will attend further events and local venues across the county to hear from as many local people as possible.
• We will share what we have heard with key partners and decision makers to make recommendations for improvements to health and care.
• We will use the learning from these roadshows to inform future engagement activity.
• We will use what we have heard to shape our priority setting and project planning in the future.
• Healthwatch will continue to raise awareness of our role across the county, to make more communities aware of what we offer and our impact.

As the public champion for local health and care services, Healthwatch East Sussex will continue to work in partnership with commissioners and providers to monitor the experiences of patients and the public in accessing health and care services locally and explore how ongoing improvements may be delivered.

Contact Us

For media enquiries about Healthwatch East Sussex, please contact 0333 101 4007, enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk