Background

A member of the public brought to our attention that The Beacons were not part of the Red Bag Scheme due to them not being a permanent residency. The Red Bag Scheme allows a residents medical information and personal belongings to be transported to hospital in one bag. When a patient is then discharged, the information is updated and transported back with them. It's a simple change which is proving to have benefits for both patients and the NHS. It facilitates a smoother handover between care home, ambulance and hospital staff with fewer phone calls and follow-ups made by the hospital staff to care homes looking for health information about the resident.

What We Did

This was raised with the CCG and this has now been rectified and the Red Bag Scheme is operating within The Beacons.

Please let us know about your recent experiences with Hospital Transport by taking our quick survey.

The Following questions are designed to gather feedback and opinions of Hospital Transport. These answers are provided anonymously and will be used by Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire.

Please click here to take our survey now.

Background

During our engagement within GP Practices, members of the public said to the Healthwatch Staff Team that they were unsure of the services that were on offer at their GP Practice. Patients were also unsure of the enhanced summary care records and the digital systems that allow you to book appointments and prescriptions.

What We Did

With this information we decided to put together GP Directories, for each GP Practice in the area, which would contain this information for patients. This information is available in hard copies in GP Practices and via our website.

You can view the directory for you GP by clicking here. 

In 2018, the government announced that the NHS’ budget would be increased by £20 billion a year. In January 2019, the NHS published a long term plan which covers certain priorities that the NHS will focus on over the next 10 years.

The “what would you do” Campaign ran by local Healthwatch across Humber, Coast and Vale including Healthwatch York, North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and Hull captured over 2000 responses on what local people want to see delivered locally across the region. Two surveys and 12 focus groups were ran to find out what people thought worked well and were things could be better.

Click here to read the full press release.

Here at Healthwatch, we want to hear about all experiences, whether they're good, bad or somewhere inbetween. It's no secret that compliments are just as important as complaints and highlighting what services are doing well is so important. That way, they can do more of it! Anything you have to say, no matter how small, could make a big difference. Your voice really does count. Our local NHS services need your help. Maybe a nurse gave you some reassurance when you felt anxious? Maybe a dentist made you smile? These dedicated members of staff deserve some recognition for going the extra mile. 

Please get in touch and share your experiences with us. You can do this via twitter, facebook, email, telephone, or in person!

Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public.

Healthwatch works at both the national and local level and makes sure the views of the public and people who use services are taken into account by providers. 

We gather your views and experiences about local healthcare and use them to show services what they are doing well and where they could improve.

Did you know that you could save yourself a trip to the GP Surgery by seeing your local pharmacist first!

Pharmacists train for five years in the use of medicines, managing minor illness and providing health and wellbeing advice.

To find out more about what your pharmacist can do for you, click here.

Always see your pharmacist first, unless it's an emergency!

Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire receive many questions about NHS dentists, including treatment costs and a short poll revealed that 100% of the people who answered do not know where to find an NHS dentist in our area.

To find out more about when patients are entitled to free NHS dental care, and what charges you could expect, please click here.

To find out more about how you can find an NHS dentist, please click here.

Every patient has a Summary Care Record (unless you have opted out). A Summary Care Record contains important information about:

• Current Medications
• Allergies
• Name
• Date of Birth 
• NHS Number

If you need to see a health professional who does not know you, it may be beneficial for them to have access to additional information about you and your medical information. Please click here to find out more.