Annual Report 2018/19

Healthwatch Barnsley report on its key achievements for 2018/19.  It:

• Produced a report on services for blind and partially sighted people in Barnsley, identifying gaps in support, long waiting times and access issues. This led to the creation of a new Barnsley Vision Strategy Group involving service users, commissioners and providers to shape future services. 
• Influenced improvements to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) by revisiting its earlier review and gathering feedback from young people, parents and carers. CAMHS used the findings to develop an action plan, particularly to improve support and information for families while waiting for treatment. 
• Continued to represent patient views on key mental health partnerships, including the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, Suicide Prevention Partnership and police mental health partnership work, ensuring service-user perspectives were reflected in discussions about mental health services and the use of restraint.
• Shared public concerns about hospital triage services with the Clinical Commissioning Group, leading to discussions with Barnsley Hospital to improve the service.
• Was commissioned by Healthwatch England to carry out local engagement on the NHS Long Term Plan, ensuring the views of refugee communities and people with visual impairments contributed to future NHS planning.
• Engaged with 1,715 residents, visited 64 services and community events, handled 225 information and advice enquiries, and used this intelligence to identify service gaps and influence local health and social care provision.