News and reports

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has published a report following an inspection of services run by West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) in November.

Last week, the team continued to work hard on the long-term condition priority project, which was determined as our annual priority thanks to the local Stokies sharing their primary health and social care concerns with us.

According to The Encephalitis Society, 77% of people do not know what encephalitis is. We want to help improve the encephalitis awareness through sharing information from The Encephalitis Society and the NHS.

One in five people we spoke to with a GP referral for specialist care had bounced back to general practice. This suggests potentially serious issues with referral processes. Healthwatch England are calling for more to be done to understand people’s experience of getting a referral.

With NHS staff holding industrial action this winter, this article aims to help answer common questions and find out from NHS providers any likely impact in the area.

Many of you may be concerned with more planned industrial action. People may also be anxious about what to should do during the industrial action periods if they need to access health care.

The continuing cost of living crisis is adversely affecting people's physical and mental wellbeing, with vulnerable people and those on lower incomes hit the hardest.

The number of people avoiding an NHS appointment because they can’t afford travel almost doubled between October and December as the cost of living crisis is forcing many to change how they use health and care services.

Over a third (39%) of people say the changes they have made to their lives due to the cost of living crisis have affected their mental health.

• Women are disproportionately affected by spiralling costs, with 35% saying their mental health has got worse over the last two months, compared to 26% of men.

If you are looking to share your stories and experiences of local health and social care services with us over Christmas, keep in mind our opening hours and other ways to get in touch.

Find out what people in Stoke-on-Trent had shared of their experiences with NHS dentistry services over the last couple of years.

Locally and nationally, there are stories of people experiencing delays in the ambulances reaching them and then of delays when reaching hospital of being handed over to Accident and Emergency Department, sometimes with tragic outcomes.

There is a variety of local support available to help you through the cost of living crisis this winter.