Healthwatch Sheffield Annual Report 2015-16

How we made a difference:

• Nationally We ran a workshop with Healthwatch Barnsley for NHS England at their ‘Improving Patients’ Experience of Care’ Conference. We shared the good practice and learning we had gained through our Enter and View visits to dental practices and are producing a toolkit for use in primary care.
• Locally We were invited to contribute to the new Primary Care Strategy which was being developed by Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group. As part of this we attended a discussion in which it became apparent that the role of the patient was absent. We volunteered to add this to the document and wrote a section about patients, ensuring that they play a key role in the new strategy.
• To providers of services We wrote a report following our visit to Accident and Emergency at the Northern General Hospital. As a result of our recommendations, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have changed their signs, and volunteers work in the department who can help people looking for relatives or friends. Drinking water is also now always available in A&E. 
• To individuals and the public We were contacted by a person whose relative had received sub-standard care. We supported them to make a complaint, and raised this with the provider of the service, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and adult safeguarding. An investigation showed that there were some things which had been handled wrongly, and the complainant was able to see the difference they had made by complaining.