1. Report -

    19 October 2021
  2. Report -

    14 October 2020
  3. Report -

    10 July 2019, 10am —12 noon
    St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Gateshead
  4. Report -

    7 November 2018, 1—3pm
    Room 1B, Davison Building
  5. Report -

    31 October 2017 – 10.00am 12pm
    Bewicks, Gateshead Civic Centre
  6. Report -

    This is a copy of our Record Keeping and Retention Policy
  7. Report -

    Our complaints process outlines how to make a complaint about us and our approach to making sure complaints are resolved.
  8. Report -

    Our complaints process outlines how to make a complaint about us and our approach to making sure complaints are resolved.
  9. Report -

    Our Safeguarding policies outline what our processes and steps are to ensure the safeguarding of children and adults we engage with.
  10. Report -

    Our Whistleblowing policy is intended to assist staff and volunteers who believe they have discovered malpractice or wrongdoing within Tell Us North, by enabling them to raise their concerns in a responsible and effective manner.
  11. Report -

    Healthwatch Gateshead and Healthwatch Newcastle recently engaged with local residents to understand experiences and opinions of the North East Ambulance Service. We wanted to understand public perceptions of the service, what trust means to the public, and overall levels of trust felt towards NEAS.
    Overall, feedback was positive, however, most of those we consulted felt that they could not fully trust NEAS. Specific elements of trust were identified and included:
    - Reliability, Availability, and Responsiveness
    - Delivering a High Standard of Care
    - Integrity and the Alignment of Words & Actions
    - Patients’ Safety

    Our full report will be available to read here

  12. Report -

    Healthwatch Gateshead Committee meeting- 17/01/23
  13. Report -

    This survey was developed by Healthwatch Gateshead to help Gateshead Council understand the experiences of care givers (unpaid carers) as we come out of the Covid 19 pandemic.
  14. Report -

    Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into
    NHS Dentistry Submission
  15. Report -

    Minutes of the committee meeting held on 18/04/2023
  16. Report -

    Read our latest annual report and all that we have done through the year as your local Healthwatch.
  17. Report -

    This policy applies to all relevant decisions made by Tell Us North, Healthwatch Newcastle and Healthwatch Gateshead.
  18. Report -

    Read our minutes from the Healthwatch Gateshead Committee Meeting
  19. Report -

    Healthwatch Gateshead and Healthwatch Newcastle undertook a joint research project to engaged with retirement-age residents of Gateshead and Newcastle to understand their experiences of loneliness and isolation. The project focused on three key areas including:

    •           Any factors people felt contributed to feelings of loneliness & isolation and its prevalence in people’s lives. 
    •           Awareness and use of local services that focused on reducing loneliness and isolation.
    •           What worked well and areas for development.

    We collected data from the survey from January 2023 to April 2023, and circulated both a digital survey and a paper-based survey format.

    The key findings are:

    •                Loneliness can occur to anyone, and in particularly felt by those aged between 65 and 74, are women, and are carers. 
    •                Loneliness is not simply a symptom of getting older but is instead prevalent when the needs of older people are not effectively taken care of. This is especially important in terms of access and mobility, including travel routes and venues for activities.
    •                Loneliness is something often felt for a long period of time and felt more actively in those aged between 65 and 74, possibly due to recent retirement and bereavement.
    •                Social activities are often the most successful in engaging older people, and community-based groups are well-received.
    •                Users who engage with some services are more likely to engage with multiple, services though there is a high rate of respondents here who do not participate at all.
    •                Key issues preventing potential users from engaging with services are poor transport options and a lack of development of local facilities.  
    •                There is interest in specific activities, like physical fitness and arts activities for some people within some communities.

    Our key recommendations are: 

    •                Support those leaving the workforce in adjusting to the changes that retirement brings.  
    •                Work with communities to create community action plans to make sure local facilities are being utilised effectively and for the benefit of local communities.
    •                Improve service infrastructure to ensure maximum reach and accessibility
    •                Establish a focus group or engagement group to help services better understand how to reach older people.
  20. Report -

    The sudden rise in energy prices and accompanying increase in inflation in 2022 led to a big leap in the cost of living for people in the UK and wage growth since summer 2021 had not kept pace with inflation. Added to this, inflation has been higher in essential goods and services such as food prices. The cost-of-living crisis has dropped out of the news over the summer, but Citizens Advice Bureau Newcastle reports that there has been no drop-off in requests for support, especially around financial matters, and material support.
  21. Report -

    Healthwatch Gateshead received intelligence from the Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Board that users of the Crawcrook, Rowland’s Gill, Grange Road & Blaydon GP practices had expressed concern and disappointment with the services they received at these sites, and these comments led Healthwatch Gateshead to focus on three issues in particular:
  22. Report -

    Minutes of committee meeting held on 31 October 2023
  23. Report -

    Healthwatch Gateshead engaged with local residents to understand their experiences using pharmacies and specifically asked about:
    • The reasons respondents visited their local pharmacy and the services they used.
    • Any recent changes to the opening hours of local pharmacies that respondents were aware of and the impact, if any, these changes had.
    • Local people’s awareness and usage of other pharmacies in the Gateshead area.
    During a one month engagement period between 24th April and the 24th May 2023, residents of Gateshead shared their experiences using pharmacies in Gateshead.