What we are hearing - April to June 2026
Download (PDF 443.93 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch York received feedback from 277 people during the quarter, covering hospital care, GP services, mental health, social care, dentistry and neurodiversity support. Many people shared positive experiences of compassionate, high-quality care, particularly in hospital services, where respondents praised departments such as A&E, rheumatology, cancer services and specialist nursing teams. Common themes included being seen quickly, good communication from clinical staff and support that helped people remain independent after discharge.
The largest areas of concern were hospital and GP services. In hospitals, people raised issues around poor communication, delayed updates for relatives, discharge planning, unmet individual needs and missed diagnoses. GP feedback focused heavily on difficulties obtaining appointments, problems with online systems, communication issues, access to blood tests, repeat prescription delays and concerns that some women's health issues were not being taken seriously. Despite these concerns, many people continued to praise individual GPs for their kindness, thoroughness and clinical care.
Mental health, dentistry and neurodiversity support generated significant concerns about access. People reported long waits for dementia assessments, difficulties obtaining mental health support in crisis, challenges accessing ADHD and autism assessments, and problems obtaining shared-care arrangements for ADHD medication. Dental access remained a major issue, with many people unable to find NHS dentists and some facing delays to wider medical treatment because they could not secure dental care
Feedback on social care highlighted difficulties accessing flexible support, concerns about care charges and challenges for people whose needs fluctuate over time. Across all sectors, Healthwatch identified particular concerns about communication, digital access, waiting times and support for neurodivergent people. The report calls for greater attention to these issues while continuing to build on examples of good person-centred care that residents consistently valued.