Obstacles to older people's access to health services in Newham
Download (PDF 1.04 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Newham undertook research into whether older people faced obstacles to GP services. They spoke to 61 older people.
The research looked at whether there were obstacles for older people booking appointments, their knowledge of extended hours services and obtaining repeat prescriptions. The main difficulties that older people experienced included inability to go online to book an appointment. Over half of the survey respondents had not heard about extended hours services before. Most people said that they preferred to make appointments by telephone. Some local residents found some GP staff friendly and helpful, with responsive services.
There were 5 recommendations about better information on extended hours services, alternatives to online services, better awareness of health services targeted at the local Chinese community and improving staff awareness of translation services.