Annual Report 2015/16

Healthwatch Salford report on their key achievements for 2015/16.  They:

• Influenced improvements to children and young people's mental health services by engaging 411 young people and producing recommendations that were adopted into the Locality Plan, CAMHS Transformation Plan, 0-25 Services Review and Emotionally Friendly Schools programme. The work was also highly commended in the national Healthwatch England awards. 
• Improved intermediate care services by gathering feedback from service users and identifying improvements around information, communication, referral pathways and mental health support. The findings informed the local service redesign, contributed to Healthwatch England's Safely Home project and were used by NICE in developing quality standards. 
• Influenced the review of elective orthopaedic surgery services following their transfer to Trafford General Hospital, with recommendations on information, travel, patient expectations and service delivery adopted and monitored by the Clinical Commissioning Group. 
• Contributed to improvements in stroke services by using patient feedback to inform the strategic centralisation of stroke care across Greater Manchester, helping shape the move to specialist stroke centres.
• Played a key role in shaping Salford's Locality Plan, producing engagement recommendations that were adopted by the Health and Wellbeing Board and embedded into plans for how local people would be involved in future health and social care decisions. 
• Helped shape Greater Manchester health and care devolution through the Taking Charge Together programme, supporting engagement with seldom-heard groups and contributing evidence that informed future health and social care planning across Greater Manchester.
• Supported the implementation of the NHS Accessible Information Standard by working with local groups and partners to improve access to information and communication support for people with disabilities, sensory loss and communication needs.