News and reports

Minutes of committee meeting held on 20 March 2024.

Minutes of the committee meeting held on 02 February 2024.

Minutes of committee meeting held on 08 November 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.

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.

Read our Newsletters for 2024, stay up to date with information and activities from Healthwatch Newcastle.

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 Newcastle and Healthwatch Gateshead 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.

Minutes of committee meeting held on 16th August 2023

Minutes of the committee meeting held on 24th May 2023