Eastbourne Listening Tour Survey

Healthwatch East Sussex report on the findings of a survey to inform their 2022 Listening Tour in Eastbourne. They heard from 150 people.

Over a third were Very/Quite Confident in accessing health and care services when they needed.  Over two in five felt that services had got worse in the last 12 months.

The health services most rated by respondents as Excellent/Good were: COVID Vaccination Services (62.7%), Pharmacy (52.0%) and GP Practices (32.0%). The health services most rated by respondents as Poor were: GP Practices (27.3%), NHS Dentists or Dental Services (20.7%) and NHS 111(10.0%).

Access to services/Waiting times, Quality of care and treatment, Communication and Quality of Service were the attributes most identified as those appreciated by respondents. Poor ratings for services generally reflect poor performance in these areas, especially where more than one affected respondents at the same time.

The five most identified health services for urgent improvements were: GP practices (59.3%), NHS Dentist or dental services (33.3%), Adult Mental Health services (26.0%), Ambulance Services (25.3%) and the Hospital Emergency Department (25.3%).

Feedback on Care services was relatively low, with no more than 10% of all survey respondents offering responses on these. Respondents demonstrated a lack of consistent understanding amongst the public about the provision of care services, and the responsibilities of different organisations in delivering them

People were most worried about their finances, the wellbeing of friends and family and paying for/affording food. Over half had become more anxious about the future, over a third had good quality sleep less often and nearly a third had socialised with friends and family less regularly