The experiences of Solihull residents who try to access urgent care
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Healthwatch Solihull undertook a research project to understand people’s experiences of trying to access urgent care. The ran an online survey from October to November 2022 and collected the views of 422 Solihull residents.
The three key topics focused on were communication, distance and waiting times. Good communication positively influences people’s experience and 29 respondents said they were not satisfied with the level of communication. Confusing advice results in people not knowing what services are available. Due to long wait times at GPs and long telephone queues, people are using NHS 111 or hospital A&E in its place. 22 respondents mentioned long ambulance waiting times.
This report was shared with the Birmingham and Solihull ICB, who responded to say they are taking a whole systems approach to tackling urgent and emergency care waiting times.