1. Advice and Information -

    Do you or a loved one need help with social care? Read the article below and find out answers to key questions about who can access adult social care and how to pay for it.
  2. News -

    Plymouth City Council are launching an important consultation about how they deliver disability adaptations across Plymouth, and they need your help to spread the word and get involved.
  3. Report -

    Social care support can be transformative for disabled people – but as many as 1.5 million working-age Disabled people in England may not be getting the care they’re eligible for.

    Our national partner Healthwatch England’s new research into social care for disabled people shows how transformative social care can be for those receiving it. But it also demonstrates the scale of unmet need. In the full report, Healthwatch outline their findings and provide recommendations to decision-makers.

    16/07/2024
    By Healthwatch England
  4. Report -

    Nearly 85,000 people in Devon provide unpaid care, with one third (33.4%) providing more than 20 hours of unpaid care per week. To learn more about the experiences of unpaid carers and the impact of providing care at home, Healthwatch developed a survey in conjunction with Devon Carers, Improving Lives Plymouth, and the Torbay Carers Service. These organisations provide a range of support services to unpaid carers.
  5. Report -

    There are almost 370,000 people in employment in Devon, with the proportion of self-employed workers (14.7%) being higher than the national average (9.3%). The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way that many of us work; in spring 2022, 38% of working adults in the UK reported having worked from home at least once in the past seven days.

    Healthwatch wanted to find out about the physical and mental impact of working from home, and how working from home has affected people’s work/life balance.
  6. Report -

    People with high blood pressure are increasingly being asked to monitor their condition at home. Find out what people think of using technology to keep tabs on their health and how they think the NHS can improve support.
  7. Report -

    In May 2022, Healthwatch Plymouth were approached by the new provider of Mayflower Medical Group (MMG) to undertake a patient survey.

    The survey’s focus was to address long established patient concerns and frustrations in accessing GP services at the 5 surgeries that form MMG and to ask for suggestions on generally improving the service and in particular improving access.
  8. Advice and Information -

    Mental health problems are more common among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people. If you are struggling, feel alone or need a little help, then check out our guide on how you can get the support you need.
  9. Advice and Information -

    Do you know about your rights to language support in NHS settings?
  10. Report -

    Healthwatch England recently published their findings and a set of immediate actions for the Government and the NHS, in relation to the cost of living and the detrimental impact it is having on people’s decisions about their own health and wellbeing.

    In light of these findings, we wanted to find out if the cost of living was having an impact on people in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay and if so, in what way.

    60 people responded to the survey and the survey ran throughout March to May 2023.

    By Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay
  11. Report -

    In 2022, Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay held a series of meetings with the South West representative of the Royal Association for Deaf People to discuss various concerns that were being raised around access to British Sign Language (BSL) qualified interpreters. These concerns include:

    • Interpreters to support appointments in hospital and GP surgeries
    • Interpreters to support complaints process
    • Access to information
  12. Advice and Information -

    The Accessible Information Standard is mandatory for all organisations that provide National Health Service (NHS) or adult social care.