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Report -
NHS and social care services only make the best decisions if they listen to the people they care for. Read our national partner Healthwatch England’s Annual Report to Parliament to see how your feedback has helped decision-makers prioritise what matters most. -
Report -
What people have told us about health and social care
Find out in our quarterly Impact and Outcomes report how your feedback is helping NHS and social care services improve care in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. -
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. -
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. -
Report -
This Healthwatch England briefing discusses people’s experiences of urgent and emergency care (UEC) services from December 2020 to August 2022.
It mentions how Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay reported on four Emergency Departments across Devon in September 2021. At all four hospitals they found that people had gone to the emergency department because they could not access another service, such as the GP or NHS 111. In one visit to one of the emergency departments they found that over half (51%) of patients attending were there because they couldn’t see their GP. -
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 -
Report -
What people have told us about health and social care
Find out in our quarterly Impact and Outcomes report how your feedback is helping NHS and social care services improve care in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.
Each quarter you can find out:
which services people are telling us about
how people are feeling about health and care services
how Healthwatch are making a difference to care in your part of Devon
real life experiences people have shared through our website feedback centres
how we have helped people get the information they need, and the difference that has made
and how we are making a difference to our communities in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.
You can download the report below for a details. -
Report -
Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay (HWDPT) were asked by the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to assist in running focus groups, to find out how elective care waiting lists have impacted patients and how people would like these waiting lists to be addressed.
Every patient on a waiting list for medical care (who had provided an email address and consented to being contacted) was invited by the CCG to register for an online focus group. Invites were also sent via the Devon Virtual Voices Panel, and through the Healthwatch Assist network. Eight virtual focus groups were held via Zoom between 9 March and 8 April 2022.
You can download the report below for full details. -
Report -
In 2021, Healthwatch Devon and North Dartmoor Primary Care Network (NDPCN) worked together to find out about the health and wellbeing needs of local people; mental health support was found to be particularly important to the community.
Following the 2021 engagement, NDPCN GP practices, health and social care partners, and other partners in the community, voluntary, and statutory sector wanted to find out more about people’s views on mental health services locally and Devon-wide.
You can download the report below for full details. -
Report -
Here is our Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay Annual Report for 2022, containing all of our statutory activities from April 2021 to March 2022 and more. -
Report -
This Patient Experience Summary covers the period 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
This summary will focus on the feedback raised in Plymouth. The data for Torbay and Devon for the last 12 months is not sufficient to draw conclusions or observations, but issues raised have been similar. When looking at the Plymouth data specifically and comparing the amount of feedback received since 1 April 2018, we have seen an increase year on year. -
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. -
Report -
Building on previous pieces of work on the NHS 111 services provided by Devon Doctors in Devon and Somerset, Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay (HWDPT) and Healthwatch Somerset (HWS) worked together to find out whether people’s experiences with the 111 service had improved or changed since the previous research was carried out.
This report highlights our key findings and detailed responses. -
Response -
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced today that he will bring the NHS back under the control of ministers by abolishing NHS England. -
Report -
Healthwatch Plymouth were invited to a drop-in workshop with a group of women working with ‘Gifted Women’ – a charity for women who are rebuilding their lives after substance misuse, homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system – to learn more about their experiences with local health and social care services. -
Report -
In October 2023, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s (UHP) Royal Eye Infirmary (REI) service moved from its location at Derriford Hospital to a new purpose-built building in the International Business Park near to the Derriford Hospital Site. Earlier this year Healthwatch Plymouth (HWP) conducted visits to the REI to engage with patients around their experiences of the new facility. This engagement report collates and summarises this patient feedback. -
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. -
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. -
Report -
A review of patient feedback received around services in Plymouth has recently been conducted and it was noted that there had been consistent feedback around access to CAMHS services during the Covid pandemic, most of it negative.
To better understand the issues being raised, it was decided by the Healthwatch Plymouth Steering Group to conduct further research in the form of a survey aimed at parents who had accessed Children’s and Young People services since 1 April 2020. -
Blog -
From November 2024 to February 2025 we worked with NHS Devon to gather over 3,500 of your views, experiences, and ideas, which shaped a new 10 Year Health Plan for the whole of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. -
News -
The government has announced that NHS dental changes will go up from 1 April by 2.39% . -
News -
People detained for inpatient assessment and treatment under the Mental Health Act seem to be more unwell on admission than in the past, according to a report out today from the Care Quality Commission. -
News -
A Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust team has been shortlisted for its work on digital literacy and inclusion in the prestigious Health Services Journal (HSJ) digital awards 2025. -
News -
Two projects have been awarded the 2024 Healthwatch Impact Award for their exceptional work in using local people’s experiences to improve care. -
Response -
Healthwatch England responds to the National Pharmacy Association's call to reduce services. -
Report -
A new report from our national partners Healthwatch England warns long waits for eye care are having a huge impact on people’s daily lives. -
News -
A new domestic abuse support service is set to launch in Devon. -
News -
Following the announcement last month that the government had agreed a new one-year contract with GPs, Healthwatch can bring you more details of what the changes mean to patient care from 1 April. -
News -
Good social care can make a big difference to someone's life. But are people always receiving the help they need? Find out what our research and feedback tells us and how we think social care support could be improved. -
Response -
Read Healthwatch England's response to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report, The Safety Gap, on the accessibility of medicines for people with sensory impairments. -
Response -
Read Healthwatch England's response to the news that more funding will be made available for community pharmacies. -
Response -
Satisfaction with health service is at lowest recorded levels. Read the response from our national partners Healthwatch England. -
News -
Want to find out more about heart health? Join Naing KoKo, consultant cardiologist, at a free health talk on Tuesday 29 April 2025, from 5.30pm-6.30pm at TREC, Torbay Hospital (or online). -
Advice and Information -
The Accessible Information Standard is mandatory for all organisations that provide National Health Service (NHS) or adult social care. -
Advice and Information -
Do you struggle to speak to your doctor about your medical concerns? You’re not alone. Take a look at our top tips to make the most out of your GP appointment. -
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