Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin is doing a project on barriers you may encounter at your GP surgery.
We want to look at the whole experience, from entering the surgery to seeing the GP. We have spoken to local support groups to get an idea of some of the potential access barriers for which we should be looking.
Some of the barriers we will be looking at are:
- English is not your first language
- Disabilities access
- Sensor sight, hearing, speech
- Living with dementia
- Children with disabilities, etc
We will also look at the access to the building, including:
- Booking process
- Seating areas
- Facilities
- Information displayed
- Patients' experience of the surgery
To gather information, we will be conducting Enter & View visits to all Telford and Wrekin surgeries. We aim to involve the practice managers. Once we have the information we need, we will produce an Enter & View report for each of the visited surgeries, and then an overall report.
If you have any experience with these issues, please get in touch and let us know!
Email: info@healthwatchtelfordandwrekin.co.uk
Telephone: 01952 739540
Diabetes: Patient experience of health, care and support services
Are you one of the people living with diabetes in Telford and Wrekin who are receiving some of the poorest care for Diabetes in the country?
According to Diabetes UK, in their recent report 'Diabetes is Serious. Diabetes care: is it fair enough?', you probably do receive some of the worst care. In their report Diabetes UK say following an analysis of '...the most recent National Diabetes Audit, 2021 to 2022, broken down by ICB to show the percentage of people receiving all eight of the NICE recommended annual care processes.' NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICB has the lowest number of people receiving all eight checks and is 19% lower than the same period in 2019-2020.
The report says that with the right care and support many complications associated with Diabetes can be avoided. This can be achieved by people living with Diabetes receiving eight routine checks, recommended by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) that have been shown to reduce the chances of developing these complications such as amputations, strokes, heart attacks and heart failure.
Diabetes UK's report says 'Emerging evidence suggests that the ongoing disruption to routine care may be leading to excess mortality in people with diabetes.' In 2022 there were 13% more deaths than expected and in the first part of 2023 it is three times higher than in the same period in 2022 for the whole of the country.
Does your experience of the care you receive match what Diabetes UK is saying?
If you live with diabetes, we want to hear if you get the care and support you need to live well and without risk of complication through regular checks and support from the health and care system in Telford and Wrekin.