Annual Report 2014/15

Healthwatch Northamptonshire report on their key achievements for 2014/15.  They:

• Launched Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire, held a youth conference attended by 70 young people, engaged 527 young people on health and wellbeing issues, and influenced local and national discussions on children and young people’s mental health. 
• Influenced improvements to domiciliary care through research with service users and carers. One key recommendation, to fund carers’ travel costs, was accepted and piloted by the council and local NHS commissioners.
• Successfully supported the campaign to reinstate cardiac rehabilitation services at Danetre Hospital, helping secure the return of services closer to home for local patients recovering from heart disease. 
• Improved care at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital through patient experience work and 73 Enter and View visits, leading to changes in A&E information, waiting areas, dementia support, ward environments and meal services. 
• Influenced safeguarding and quality monitoring arrangements in Northamptonshire after raising concerns about care providers, resulting in the creation of new quality monitoring processes, a dedicated Quality Board and increased oversight of care services.
• Undertook pioneering work with patients at St Andrew’s Healthcare, helping bring attention to experiences in secure mental health settings and informing scrutiny by national bodies. 
• Conducted the Make Your Voice Count 2 campaign, speaking to 1,184 people and using public feedback to identify priority issues including GP access, mental health services and care for older people, which shaped future work programmes.