News and reports

Read our minutes from the Healthwatch Gateshead Committee Meeting on 02 April 2024.

Read our minutes from the Healthwatch Gateshead Committee Meeting on 17 Jan 2024.

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.

Minutes of committee meeting held on 31 October 2023

People have been telling us about challenges they face getting NHS dentistry. As a result we are working with the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) in the North East and North Cumbria to better understand people’s experiences of dentistry in 2023.

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:

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.

Following on from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports on Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Hospital Trust. Healthwatch Gateshead and Healthwatch Newcastle, alongside Healthwatch Northumberland and Healthwatch North Tyneside have released a joint statement.

Please download the full statement below.

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.

Healthwatch Gateshead and Healthwatch Newcastle are here to help make local health and care services better for you. We do this by finding out how you are experiencing these services and ultimately feeding this back to the people delivering and commissioning the services, to influence positive change based on what we have been told.

In a groundbreaking revelation, the latest report from Diabetes UK has sent shockwaves through the nation's healthcare landscape. The number of people living with diabetes in the UK has surpassed the 5 million mark for the first time, marking a significant milestone that demands our attention. This unprecedented figure not only highlights the scale of the issue but also underscores the urgent need for awareness, education, and proactive measures to tackle this growing public health challenge.

Healthwatch Gateshead proudly announces the appointment of Afsana Begum as their dynamic new Research and Engagement Manager. Armed with an impressive degree in Public Health, Afsana brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will further invigorate the organisations' commitment to enhancing the health and well-being of individuals accessing health and social care services in Newcastle and Gateshead.