Public views on health and care during the COVID-19 pandemic in the care communities of Cheshire East

Healthwatch Cheshire East conducted research into the personal experiences of Cheshire residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report details the findings from the Healthwatch Cheshire Health and Wellbeing During Coronavirus survey which ran fom 4^th May until 15^th October 2020. Across Cheshire, 1,661 people responded, this report focuses on the 729 responses from people in Cheshire East.

Healthwatch Cheshire East research made findings on three main themes: Healthcare, Mental Health and Care. It found that a significant number of people reported not feeling comfortable either making, traveling to, or attending appointments. The most common change to services people discussed were GP appointments taking place via telephone or video calls and increased waiting times for prescriptions. However, 77% of people rated access to their GP practice and Hospital as either ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ and 81.6% rated their experience of pharmacies as such.

For the most part, respondents said they were coping well with their mental health. However, respondents did talk about stress and anxiety they felt, confusion over national guidance and missing friends and family. 47 people in Cheshire East responded to the care section of the survey. Changes to care were commented upon due to the pandemic, especially around changes in use of Personal Assistants resulting in more reliance on friends and family to fulfill caring roles. Where care has been provided, people commonly described it as having been a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ service. All respondents who commented upon Care Homes talked about not being able to visit their relative or friend, which was deemed an understandable measure.