Annual Report 2020/21

Healthwatch Dudley report on its key achievements for 2020/21.  It:

• Responded rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic by gathering residents’ experiences through dedicated surveys and engagement work, ensuring local people’s views informed the response of health, care and community services across Dudley.
• Expanded the Community Information Champion network, supporting residents with trusted information, advice and signposting at a time of significant disruption and helping people access health, care and community support.
• Continued to champion the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing residents through the Deaf Network, raising awareness of communication barriers and supporting improvements in accessibility across local services.
• Supported mental health and wellbeing initiatives, including work with young people and local partners to understand the impact of the pandemic and promote available support services.
• Maintained strong engagement with local communities despite restrictions, using digital methods, surveys and partnership working to capture public experiences and feed intelligence into local health and care decision-making.
• Worked with health and care partners on issues including safeguarding, carers’ support, social isolation and health inequalities, ensuring the experiences of vulnerable residents continued to influence service planning.
• Continued to support local people through information and signposting services, helping residents navigate changing services and access appropriate support during the pandemic.