Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 2016/17
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Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 2016/17 1 Message from our Chair ………………………… 3 Message from our Chief Executive ……… 4 Highlights from our year ………………………. 5 Who we are …………………………………………… 7 Your views on health and care ……………. 10 Helping you find the answers ………………. 19 Making a difference together ……………… 23 It starts with you ………………………………… 30 Our plans for next year ……………………… 34 Our people ………………………………………… 36 Our finance ………………………………………… 40 Contact us …………………………………………. 42 2 Message from our Chair On behalf of the HWL Board of Directors/Trustees I am pleased to present our fourth annual report for April 2016 to March 2017. This has been a challenging but very I am also very proud of us achieving Finally, I would like to thank all of our staff, productive year for us as an the ‘Investing in Volunteers’ award volunteers and Board. All of you are organisation, and I am delighted to this year and of our new monthly responsible for our success and impact; it is report that our reputation continues to reporting system which is excellent in a privilege to be Chair of HWL and I grow both locally and nationally due to enabling us to provide clear evidence commend this report to you. the hard work and dedication of all of of the intelligence we receive from Healthwatch Lincolnshire Chair those who work for us as staff and the public and of course in supporting volunteers. the positive impact we are making on John Bains health and social care for the residents of Lincolnshire. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 Page 3 3 Message from our Chief Executive “During the past year, the challenges facing health and care services in Lincolnshire have sometimes felt overwhelming”. An example of this is the closure of 5 GP surgeries in West and East Lincolnshire and the effect this will have How do we do this? on patients. “Through the sheer dedication of our staff, volunteers and trustees, without them Healthwatch Lincolnshire would not be Whilst we would commend the neighbouring GP practices who the organisation it is today. I would like to take this stepped in to provide their services to the new patients, opportunity to personally but publically thank them all”. concerns about the impact increased patient list sizes is having on already stretched services has been raised with us. Finally from me, I am very proud to be able to share our Investors in Volunteers Award success this year. This We would like to reassure everyone in our county that achievement demonstrates a real commitment to our Healthwatch Lincolnshire continues to work hard to volunteers and we now plan to build on this success ensure we are sharing your health and care experiences throughout our organisation. with the people that pay for or deliver your healthcare services. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 4 Highlights from our year Our website and Our Information We have raised 353 feedback centre Signposting Team questions, helped 1,570 patients, recommendations, has received an carers and service impressive users find their way observations and 53,952 hits through the suggestions complicated health and social care system This year we've Our reports have tackled Healthwatch volunteers have issues ranging from NHS Health contributed a staggering 1,732 reached 7,778 Checks to Neurology hours of support from April ‘16 people on social to March ’17 media Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 5 Highlights from our year – Where our 353 questions, recommendations, suggestions and observations have been raised 197 questions 101 recommendations 11 recommendations, were raised were shared as a result observations and directly with of our Enter and View suggestions were activities health and made from our Learning Disability care provider NHS Health Check organisations project activities 10 recommendations, Our Public Experience Committee PEC has produced observations and (PEC) has raised: escalation reports suggestions were made for neurology and 16 questions with EMAS following our NHS Transitional Care 8 questions with community health, pathways, both of Immunisation and acute and adult social care, for Screening project delayed transfers of care which asked activities 8 questions about cancer services questions of the service providers Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 6 Who we are Healthwatch Lincolnshire exists to make health and social care services work for the people who use them. We believe that asking people more about their experiences can identify Everything we say and do is informed by our issues that, if addressed, will make services better. connections to local people. Our sole focus is on understanding the needs, experiences and concerns of people of all ages who use services and to speak out on their behalf. We are uniquely placed as a national network, with a local Healthwatch in every local authority area in England. 7 Our Vision, Mission and Core Functions Our vision is for everyone in Lincolnshire to access and receive Vision outstanding health and social care services. Our mission is to be the consumer champion for all health and social Mission care services for everyone in Lincolnshire. • Influencing – helping to shape the planning of health and social care. • Signposting – providing information, helping 3 Core people access and make choices about available Functions services. • Watchdog – being a critical, supportive and accountable friend to everyone in Lincolnshire. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 8 Our 5 Strategic Priorities 2014-2019 (refreshed August 2016) 1. Influencing Health and Social Care services through the delivery of our 3 core functions. 2. Raising awareness on a local and national level of HWL and its impact. 3. Making HWL sustainable for the future. 4. Working in partnership to support improvements in health and social care. 5. Participation and involvement in all aspects of health and social care. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 9 Your views on health and care 10 Listening to local people’s views Public Facing Engagement continues to be effective in raising awareness of Healthwatch Lincolnshire amongst Lincolnshire residents and also encouraging people to share their health and care experiences. Our Volunteer and Staff Team continue to make a huge contribution to this type of engagement. Between October and December 2016, our volunteers visited 68 GP Surgeries across the county. November 2016 and March 2017 were our busiest months for volunteer hours giving their time to Healthwatch Lincolnshire activities. Our Volunteers have supported us in activities ranging from public engagement, training, administration and reader panel support. We have estimated that a minimum of 1,730 hours in 2016/2017. These hours equate to over 140 hours per month, with a team that varies (because of their other commitments) between 25-35 active volunteers at any one time. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 11 Listening to local people’s views • People with Learning Disabilities, this work focused on experiences of NHS Annual Health Checks (which has prompted a commissioned project) • LGBT conference, Healthwatch were a partner in a countywide annual conference • Rurality – all our project work asks specific questions of patients, carers and service users as to what impact living in rural communities has on their health and care • Food and Fitness lifestyle choices for children in years 5 & 6 Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 12 Listening to local people’s views – ‘how we collect your voice’ • Through 97 Healthwatch Hubs • Feedback Centre • Quick Polls • Surveys – usually for project and targeted work • Emails • Telephone enquiries • General engagement across Lincolnshire which gathers feedback forms • Provider Network Meetings Listening to local people’s views – ‘What we do with your voice’ • Record all experiences shared on our database • Check all identifiers are removed from each recorded case • Produce a monthly report which is distributed to organisations such as NHS England, CQC, 4 Lincolnshire CCGs, Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board and Health Scrutiny. We ask providers to respond to our questions within 20 working days. We also produce thematic reports from our project activities. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 13 Listening to local people’s views – ‘examples of questions we have raised on your behalf’ We have asked 197 direct questions of service providers during the past year, below provides a small example of these: Concerns were raised about the impact on services due to the numbers of holiday makers on the East coast. We asked: how long does someone have the status of temporary resident before they have to register? Does local services get paid extra for treating temporary residents? Patient had made a complaint to a GP surgery and not received a response (after a year). Action: As well as contacting the surgery we escalated this to the CQC as part of their inspection process. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 14 Listening to local peoples views – ‘examples of questions we have raised on your behalf’ Patient had concerns about hospital discharge due to personal experience (lengthy delays) We asked: Do you keep a record of how many patients are unable to go home due to delays in home care provision or care home placements? Patient observed some very poor practices during their stay in hospital. We asked: the Trust to note the experiences shared by the patient, we would expect this to provide learning and improvement on the ward. Provider response: This experience was simply not acceptable and we would ask that the patient please contacts PALS so that we can find out some more and address directly with the ward and with the nurses on duty. Please pass on my sincere apologies. Healthwatch Lincolnshire Annual Report 16/17 15 Once we have visited a premises or provider we will provide an overview of what we found during that visit and when published this will include any Enter and View as a feedback the care givers have provided, it will also include any areas Statutory Duty where the visit has prompted a change to the service.