How can Gloucestershire's health and care services communicate better to improve care?
Download (PDF 5.22 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Gloucestershire wanted to understand how satisfied people in Gloucestershire are with the communications they receive; whether they feel they are kept well informed and in regular contact with their GP, consultant, and other health and care professionals; and whether they consider the various services they access to communicate well with each other in order to provide them with joined-up care. They conducted this project during January and February 2023, actively engaging with people across the county during a three-week period to gather their feedback. Altogether they spoke to 158 people.
Key findings:
- Services and departments do not communicate well with each other or reliably share information, meaning service users have to continually chase, repeat and correct information.
- There is no central point of contact that can be easily and directly reached with concerns or questions, so most people don’t know who and how to contact for reliable information, advice, and signposting.
- Information packs giving people relevant, up-to-date details on their condition/injury and their expected health and care pathway are not provided.
- People often receive little to no advice about financial assistance, social care options or local support that is available to them and that could make a considerable difference to their wellbeing.
The report contains nine recommendations to improve communications.