Mind, Body and Soul

Healthwatch Rotherham ran a series of online polls and carried out interviews to find out about Rotherham’s residents experiences and feelings of lockdown, accessing services during the COVID-19 pandemic and what the future looks like for Rotherham healthcare services.

• The findings were varied, and it was clear that some people saw lockdown in a positive way, allowing them to reconnect with family and friends and focus on self-care and wellbeing.
• However, others found the lockdowns incredibly isolating, they struggled to access healthcare services and suffered with poor mental health due to a number of reasons including increased anxiety, dealing with bereavement and loneliness.
• Many felt apprehensive about restrictions lifting, were worried about the unknown and the uncertainty of the future.
• For those who accessed healthcare services during the pandemic, many of them found that it was difficult to access GP appointments, with the telephone appointment service often not able to cope with demand.
• Many respondents favoured a face-to-face or video appointment and feel this would have been more appropriate for their needs. Respondents felt that their option to choose what type of appointment they received had been removed and it is something they would like to see reinstated.
• Participants highlighted accessibility issues, particularly the lack of information available in Easy Read format and for those without internet.
• For those with internet access, online services were praised in Rotherham for keeping patients fully informed of the ever-changing situation during the pandemic. Additionally, the Rotherham Health App was criticised for being hard to use, resulting in patients needing to contact the GP via telephone to make an appointment, something they were trying to avoid due to it being time consuming.

Healthwatch Rotherham have made a few recommendations to improve the patient experience in the future.