How has health and social care changed for you?

Healthwatch Harrow undertook an event on 29 November 2023 to understand how health and social care had changed for people. 75 people attended.  The topics discussed were mental health, GP access, hospitals and social care.

Mental health 

• Pathways to services are still not clear and it is difficult to find out who to contact.
•  Disintegrating service from Mental Health: users have no idea who is coordinating their support and no dedicated staff member or point of contact. 
• Annual Reviews are not always carried out for individual patients. 
• There is no service when it is most needed by carers in cases of emergency. 
• Residents would like to see more day opportunity services offered to mental health patients within the community. 
• There is insufficient engagement when services are undergoing change or when they are closed down. 

GP access 

• Patients still have issues contacting their GP for an appointment. They are being forced down the online route and patients are generally not aware that they can also contact their GP by phone, in person or by letter to request a face-to-face appointment – it is what the GPs are contracted to do, but not always what is being shared with patients. 
• There are long waiting times for booking appointments when referrals are made to external clinicians. 
• When trying to book an appointment by phone, there is a very long queuing system before one is put through to speak to someone. 
• There is a high preference for face-to-face consultations over virtual consultations, particularly for people who have limited digital knowledge. For those who are more confident using the internet, some reported that they are now accustomed to virtual consultations which they find adequate in some situations. It was clear that having a choice is important, depending on the circumstances.

Hospitals 

• Difficulties arise when patients do not have a named staff member who they can go to when issues arise. This comes about with high staff turnover. 
• There is a long wait for some hospital procedures. 
• Discharge from hospitals is affected by delayed care packages within the community.

Social care 

• Pathways to services are not clear or communicated effectively. 
• Access to Children and Young people’s services and Health Workers is really difficult. 
• Many said it was difficult to contact social workers, with no named worker and no contact details.

The report includes five recommendations about improving communications; access to social services; waiting times and better communication to service users when services are changed or closed.