Healthwatch Young People’s Survey on Health Services
Download (PDF 658.25 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Redcar and Cleveland carried out a survey in early 2016 to understand young people's views, experiences and awareness of health and social care services. The survey was developed with support from young Healthwatch Champions and was distributed online and through face-to-face engagement. A total of 378 young people aged 13–25 took part. Most respondents were aged 16–18 (48%), and 70% were female.
The survey found that young people primarily seek health and wellbeing advice from parents, carers and friends rather than formal services. Use of school nurses, counsellors, pastoral support services and community centres was generally low across all age groups. Older young adults aged 22–25 were more likely to seek support from their GP.
Physical health, sexual health, and emotional wellbeing were identified as the most important health issues for young people. In contrast, drugs, alcohol and smoking were often rated as less important, although the report notes that the reasons for this are unclear.
Young people generally rated dentists, pharmacies and opticians positively, with these services receiving the highest levels of good or excellent feedback across all age groups. Hospital appointments were also viewed positively by many respondents. However, GP services were frequently rated as needing improvement by those aged 16–25, while mental health services were a particular concern among 22–25 year olds. Common complaints included difficulties obtaining appointments, long waiting times, poor communication and insufficient follow-up support.
The survey highlighted significant concerns about awareness and accessibility of some services. While more than 90% of respondents knew how to access common services such as GPs, hospitals, pharmacies, dentists and opticians, many were unaware of specialist services. Around 60% of young people did not know where to find mental health services, and around 50% did not know where to find sexual health services. Those who lacked awareness of these services were also more likely to report difficulty accessing them. Healthwatch described these findings as alarming because young people may not know where to seek help when they need it.
Most young people stated that they would be willing to seek advice from a pharmacy if they could not obtain a GP appointment. However, some respondents expressed concerns about privacy, comfort and whether pharmacists had the appropriate expertise for certain issues.
Additional comments from respondents emphasised concerns about mental health support, the need for greater emotional wellbeing services, difficulties accessing GP appointments, long waiting times, poor awareness of school nursing services, and a desire for services that listened more effectively to young people.
The report concludes that young people generally have positive experiences of the services they use regularly but lack awareness of many specialist services. Healthwatch recommended increasing awareness of school nursing, mental health and sexual health services; improving young people's understanding of the risks associated with drugs, alcohol and smoking; investigating poor experiences of GP services; promoting the role of pharmacies; and ensuring that young people are actively involved in the design and evaluation of health services