Below you can see our project reports from 2019-2021.

Alongside our most recent report, Carers’ experiences of hospital discharge, we have produced two video case studies on our YouTube channel. If you would like a link to these videos, please contact enquiries@healthwatchsurrey.co.uk.

How people find advice and support to live well in the early years after dementia diagnosis

Over 16,000 people in Surrey are living with dementia, and this number is expected to rise rapidly in coming years.

The report shines a light on how well people and their carers connect with the support and services designed to help them live well in the years after diagnosis, and how commissioners and providers can support the services that are of most value to the people of Surrey.

Report On A Page: finding advice and support after dementia diagnosis

A one page summary of our report: How people find advice and support to live well in the early years after dementia diagnosis.

Report On A Page: finding advice and support after dementia diagnosis - Plain text version

A one page summary of our report: How people find advice and support to live well in the early years after dementia diagnosis.

This is the plain text version.

Carers' experiences of hospital discharge

This project was undertaken to investigate the experience of Discharge to Assess from the perspective of Carers of those admitted to hospital. Our aim is that this insight will guide development and implementation of the D2A programme to maximise safe, successful hospital discharges. This was a joint project between Action for Carers and Healthwatch Surrey.

Report on a Page and Patient Experience Videos: Carers’ experiences of hospital discharge

A one page executive summary of our report including conclusions and recommendations, with quick links to two patient experience videos.

Report on a Page and Patient Experience Videos: Carers’ experiences of hospital discharge - Plain text

A one page executive summary of our report including conclusions and recommendations, with quick links to two patient experience videos.

This is the plain text version.

Review of remote consultation experiences

The pandemic triggered a rapid switch to remote consultations and an increased use of online communications in health and social care. While this has worked well for some people and some services, there have also been frustrations, worries and difficulties for some in accessing care.

We reviewed over 200 stories about people’s experiences of remote consultations that were shared with us between June 2020 and March 2021.

Communicating with patients about delayed appointments - July 2021

During the pandemic, hospital appointments were inevitably delayed. On the whole Surrey residents were very stoic about this, understanding that the NHS was under unprecedented pressure and accepted service cancellations; indeed, some people chose to cancel appointments themselves.

However, as time went on and lockdown eased last summer some people started to feel frustration and questioned when they would get seen. They had been told their treatment was delayed or cancelled but had not been given any information about what would happen next.

Would their treatment be rescheduled? What would happen next?

This report summarises the responses from the hospitals to our recommendations based on NHS guidelines.

Dental experiences Jan-May 2021

Between January-May 2021, we have heard from 72 people about their experiences of accessing and receiving dental treatment.

This report has been grouped into themes arising from insight shared with Healthwatch Surrey and contain some examples of each theme.

Treatment of pregnancy loss in Surrey hospitals - May 2021

We reviewed our insight into people’s experiences of pregnancy loss and this report highlights the emotional consequences of miscarriage and the importance of compassionate care to support recovery and protect mental health.

It also includes recommendations that we would like providers to consider to improve the experiences of people in Surrey going forward.

Day Centres Report - Spring 2021

This report seeks to understand the value of Day Centres for their regular users.

Second Vaccinations - What do people want to know before their second Covid vaccination? - March 2021

During the first wave of the covid vaccination programme providers received a substantial volume of calls from people asking about their vaccination.

To help prevent second vaccinations triggering a similar wave we ran a snap survey before the programme began, asking people what they wanted to know about their second vaccination.

What we're hearing about Dentistry - February 2021

In the last 6 months (August 2020 - January 2021), we have seen an increase in enquiries about dentistry. This reports highlights the themes we've been hearing about.

What are we hearing about Adult Social Care?

One of the statutory duties of Healthwatch Surrey is to listen to the views of local people about their health and social care and to share these views with the organisations who make decisions about local services.

We shared what we and and key local organisations Age UK and Surrey Coalition, have heard about Adult Social Care complaints at the Adults and Health Select Committee in December 2020. This is the published report that was shared.

What do people want to happen next?

In June 2020, we conducted a snap poll with 46 Surrey residents on:

- What changes they want to see in the way health or social care are managed in the future
- Their message to the people responsible for making recovery happen
- Steps they had taken to look after themselves during the pandemic

In June 2020, we conducted a snap poll with 46 Surrey residents on:
- What changes they want to see in the way health or social care are managed in the future
- Their message to the people responsible for making recovery happen
- Steps they had taken to look after themselves during the pandemic
The sample was small but some of the key findings reflect what we’ve heard from our own and our partners’ wider consultations and are particularly interesting in light of the changes to lockdown planned for early July 2020.

COVID-19 Survey Report - May 2020

In May 2020 we ran a survey asking local people about their experiences of health and social care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a report based on what people have told us.

COVID-19 Survey Summary Report - May 2020

This is a summary of the COVID-19 Survey Report.

Maternity Voices Project Report

This is a summary report of the Maternity Voices Project.

Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans & Queer experiences of healthcare in Surrey

About 10,000 people in Surrey are LGBTQ - this is about 1.3% of the population.
We wanted to reach out to LGBTQ people because they are at risk of health inequalities; they are not named as a priority group in the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Strategy, so we wanted to make sure that their voices are heard.

Focus on: Dental Services - Finding out more about experiences in Surrey

The House of Commons Health Select Committee launched an inquiry in July 2019 into dental services, looking at a broad range of topics.

This report summarises what we've heard from people in Surrey and the findings were reported to the Select Committee.

Healthwatch Surrey Discharge Checklist

There are lots of things to consider when getting ready to leave hospital, but it can be difficult to know what those things are.

This checklist is for patients, for trusted contacts or carers to use when discussing patient discharge with hospital staff.

Experience of Safeguarding in Surrey - November 2019

Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) commissioned Healthwatch Surrey to gain rich insight into people's experience of safeguarding and to identify best practice and challenges (what works for people, what doesn't, what success looks like).

This report includes a summary of interviews conducted, recommendations and what we learned.

Planning Ahead - Care Home Residents' Experiences of Advance Care Planning

The Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board has identified 'helping people die well' as a key focus for Surrey's 10-year strategy. A Surrey-wide end-of-life care partnership is working to understand the current picture and identify opportunities to work collaboratively.

Healthwatch Surrey is giving care home residents a voice to share their experiences of advance care planning to help more people achieve good end-of-life care.

Carers - Insight into what we've heard

Senior leaders in local NHS and care services recognise the important role carers play and have committed to ensuring that carers are identified and supported.

With this in mind, Healthwatch Surrey wanted to explore what it's like to be a carer, the advantages and disadvantages of registering as a carer and the benefits of being part of a carers' community.

The Long Term Plan Report (August 2019)

In January, the NHS released their Long Term Plan, a strategy to guide its progression over the next 10 years. The Long Term Plan sets out areas the NHS will focus on to achieve this, in light of what works well and what needs improvement.

NHS England asked local NHS areas to set out how they will implement the Long Term Plan and the independence, networks and expertise of Healthwatch was called upon by the NHS to influence the implementation of these plans. This report supplements the existing Citizen Engagement programme of Surrey Heartlands Health & Care Partnership (Surrey Heartlands).

Surrey County Council's response to our report 'Can you hear me?'

In December 2019, we received a detailed response from Surrey County Council to our Care at Home report - 'Can you hear me?'

'Can you hear me?' (August 2019)

As part of Healthwatch Surrey's 3-year strategic priorites, we initiated our Care at Home project to answer the question "Do care at home users have a voice?".

Throughout the project, we conducted in-depth interviews with a total of 42 people receiving care at home, 14 care workers and 12 care agency managers or coordinators.

Following our findings, we had informal discussions with commissioners at Surrey County Council about our findings and recommendations.

Learning Disabilities Insight Report - Easy Read

Easy Read version of the Learning Disabilities Insight Report.

Learning Disabilities Insight Report

A report based on what people with learning disabilities have told us and the perspective of parents and carers.