Annual Report 2023/24
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Healthwatch Coventry report on its key achievements for 2023/24. It:
- Won a national Healthwatch Impact Award for its work with refugee and newly arrived women, which led to improvements in maternity care including a direct referral route into maternity services, better communication support, improved multi-agency working and free bus travel to NHS appointments.
- Improved care on hospital wards at University Hospital Coventry through 13 ward visits and engagement with 118 patients, relatives and staff. This led to actions on 15 recommendations, including improvements to patient care, privacy and dignity, communication, discharge planning and mealtime support.
- Enabled local people to influence the design of Coventry's new Community Diagnostic Centre, ensuring plans reflected patient views on accessibility, transport, signage, communication needs and support for people with different needs.
- Influenced local NHS and council approaches to community engagement by promoting its Good Involvement Principles and helping shape new involvement and engagement frameworks across Coventry and Warwickshire.
- Highlighted the impact of community pharmacy closures and wider access issues affecting GP, dental and pharmacy services, ensuring local commissioners and planners were aware of residents' experiences.
- Worked with communities whose voices are often less heard, including continuous canal boat residents and people from the Hong Kong Chinese community, identifying barriers relating to GP registration, dentistry, health checks, language and communication, and sharing findings with NHS leaders.
- Improved information and support for local people by providing advice and signposting, helping residents navigate issues including access to appointments, medication problems, NHS complaints and communication difficulties with services.
- Influenced local priorities on NHS complaints handling and incident responses, helping secure greater focus on delays and improvements to complaint processes and information available to patients.