Annual Report 2023/24

Healthwatch Somerset reports on its key achievements for 2023/24. It:

• Influenced improvements to support for children and young people's mental health by gathering evidence on long waits and gaps in provision. Following its recommendations, additional funding was allocated to mental health support in schools, and NHS Somerset and Somerset Council used the findings to help reshape local services. 
• Raised concerns about access to NHS dentistry based on feedback from 1,178 residents. Its findings were used by NHS Somerset and the Local Dental Committee, and helped inform implementation of Somerset's dental recovery plan to improve access to dental care. 
• Helped shape future stroke service changes through active involvement in the Stroke Stakeholder Reference Group, ensuring public concerns about proposed service changes were considered at a strategic level. 
• Used people's experiences of acquired brain injury and neuro-rehabilitation services to support a business case for service improvement, helping decision-makers understand the need for change. 
• Strengthened the influence of seldom-heard communities by supporting a new Citizen's Hub Group and chairing its meetings, creating a route for under-represented groups to directly influence NHS Somerset decision-making. 
• Contributed to work to reduce avoidable illness and hospital admissions associated with urinary tract infections by presenting carers' experiences to professionals and helping develop public information promoting hydration. 
• Helped improve adult social care by joining Somerset Council's new Working Together Board, which was established to ensure people who use services are involved in designing and improving social care provision. 
• Influenced the commissioning of preventative services by ensuring volunteers and local residents were involved in the recommissioning process and able to raise issues important to service users. 
• Supported the development of Somerset's new Commitment to Carers strategy through its leadership of the Carers Strategic Partnership Board, helping ensure services better reflect carers' experiences and needs. 
• Made recommendations following Enter and View visits to care services, including improvements to communication support for people with learning disabilities and action to address issues raised by care providers with local authorities. 
• Fed public feedback into the development of urgent and emergency care services, personalised care planning initiatives and patient safety programmes, helping NHS Somerset incorporate patient experience into service design and quality improvement activities.