News and reports

Making a complaint is a right enshrined in the NHS Constitution. Yet, our research found a number of barriers that prevented people from making a complaint about their healthcare.

We organised a joint follow-up Enter & View visit to The Royal Stoke University Hospital Maternity Services with Healthwatch Staffordshire on 16 October 2024. Read all about our joint visit in this report which includes a background and our purpose for the visit, the methodology utilised, an outline of our findings and our recommendations.

People consistently tell us how they struggle to get NHS dental care.

Annette's is one such story. She faced hard decisions about her dental care, and her experience highlights why fundamental reform of NHS dentistry is needed to make it more accessible and affordable.

Smokers and vape users can struggle to access stop-smoking services and education. Their feedback reveals poor promotion, long waits, and inflexible support and outlines steps that could help more people kick the habit.  

Healthwatch England and a coalition of trade unions, professional bodies, charities and patient groups, call for an end to treating patients in corridors and other inappropriate spaces.

As pressure mounts on emergency care services, one patient's story shows why change is needed to ensure everyone can accesses urgent care when they need it.

Healthwatch England welcomes plans for a Social Care Commission.

The Government has announced a major increase to GP funding and plans to cut targets to free up doctors' time.

In November, we conducted a semi-announced visit to Middleport Medical Centre, following feedback that we received earlier in the year from local patients.

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.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following an inspection of urgent and emergency services at Royal Stoke University Hospital, part of University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust.

Currently, with winter approaching, there is an abundance of social media infographics informing people on where to go for the right care, at the right place. The NHS 111 service offers advice and guidance on the most appropriate local service for their care needs – but sometimes they can get it wrong...