One of our responsibilities is to visit health and care facilities and speak to patients and staff about their experiences of the care and services they receive or provide. 

We will be out and about in the community over the next couple of months encouraging people to share their views as a patient, more specifically on the GP appointment system and their experiences of it. The survey only takes about 5 minutes to complete and the information you give us  is anonymous but will help us to build a picture of the practices for us to share with them along with recommendations as to how the services can be improved and to share good practice with them. 

Click here to take the online survey

Many people do not manage their eczema as well as they could and we all need a nudge sometimes to make some improvements. Eczema is a highly personal condition and people respond differently to triggers and treatments. Sometimes you need to try a few things before finding a self-management regimen that works best for you and your skin. Here are some top tips:

• Keep your home cool or take a cool shower to ease itching
• Go fragrance-free. Anything with a strong scent, from soap to air freshner may be irritating to your skin.
• Mind the gap! Leave at leat ten minutes between applying an emolient and a topical steroid. This stops the steroid spreading to areas of unaffected skin or being diluted. Apply in an order, but always leave a gap.
• Pinch itchy skin rather than scratching to avoid damaging your skin.
• Use emolients regularly, even if your eczema is 'under control'. This prevents dryness and keeps flare ups at bay.
• Check with your pharmacist for advice on how to apply your creams and manage your eczema.

You can call the National Eczema Society Helpline on 0800 089 11 22 (8-8 Mon-Fri)

GP's are no longer prescribing medications that can be bought over the counter. Visit your local pharmacy for advice before visiting your GP.

For more information, click here. 

Are you living with asthma, COPD, diabetes, high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation? Thrive NEL could be the right prescription for you!

Your GP isnt the only person who can help you feel better. 

Click here to find out more about how you could improve your long term health and wellbeing with a different type of prescription.

Did you know your GP offers an online service which will enable you to use a website or app to:

• Book or cancel appointments with a GP or nurse
• Order repeat prescriptions online
• View parts of your GP record, including information about medication, allergies, vaccinations, previous illnesses and test results.
• Vew clinical correspondence such as hospital discharge summaries, outpatient appointment letters and referral letters.

It is a free service available to everyone who is registered with a GP.

Before you can use these services, you need to visit your GP Practice and ask a member of the reception team to register you. You will need to take:

1. A form of photo ID (eg: passport or driving license)
2. Proof of address (eg: a utility bill)

You will then be given a unique username and password and instructions to follow. Some practices use different systems, so make sure you follow the instructions given by your Practice.

The practice has started a virtual  PPG forum, which is due to launch later this month. The Virtual PPG has developed based on email networks and social media to enable the group to reach out to the wider diverse population. This will ensure engagement with all sections of the population including those from minority communities and those that are seldom heard.

Click here to find out more about the role of a PPG and how you can join!

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.

Did you know that your phone could help to save your live in the event of an emergency? Your phone can do many things, but arguably the most important function of all is to store your medical information and emergency contacts so that it is accessible to first responders and medical professionals should they need it.

Please click here for further information.

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.

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.