The health and care experiences of people living in Kirklees during the Covid-19 pandemic

To gather a full understanding of the experience of health and care services during the Covid-19 outbreak, over a period over of 12 weeks (end of May to end of August 2020) Healthwatch Kirklees used a variety of different engagement approaches and tools including a survey and virtual focus groups to talk to people living and working in Kirklees. In total they spoke to 732 people.

The majority of responses related to NHS care, in particular people’s experience of accessing their GP surgery (497 contacts, 34%), Hospital care (301, 20%) and Pharmacy care (139, 9%). Other service types commonly commented on were community services (109, 7%), 999 and 111 (63, 4%) and dentists (52, 3%). This means that the majority of feedback that was received related to experiences of GP surgeries.

There were a number of key themes throughout the data collected.  People talked about access to services, by phone and delay or cancellation of routine care and access to specific services such as dentistry, podiatry and antenatal/postnatal support. They also talked about accessing services digitally, and how easy it was for people to speak to a health professional.  The report looked at the quality of care, and cleanliness, hygiene and infection control. 

The report also looks at equality issues, including maternity care and support for new mothers, the experience of carers and care home residents, disability and minority ethnic communities.  The final section of the report looks at the impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing.  The report challenges NHS and social care organisations to use the report to improve services.