News and reports | Healthwatch

Latest news and views

Futuristic image of health and care

Would you rather be treated by a fallible human or a compassionless robot? We explore people’s views on the NHS at 80 and beyond.

In the 70th year of the NHS, Healthwatch is turning its attention to the future, asking the public some big questions about what they want health and care in England to look like.

To kick things off, we polled 2,000 people to find out more about what impact people think technology will have on the way the NHS operates in 20 to...

25 September 2018

Local Healthwatch speaking to the public

Sir Robert Francis QC confirmed as new Chair of Healthwatch England

Sir Robert Francis QC has been appointed today as the new Chair of Healthwatch England, the independent champion for people who use health and social care.

Sir Robert joins Healthwatch at a key moment for the health and care sector, and will ensure the views and ideas shared by people will sit at the...

19 September 2018

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What do people want from social care?

Last year, local Healthwatch identified social care as one of the key priority areas for their communities in the year ahead. Here we share an overview on what people have told us they want from social care in the future.

18 September 2018

Healthwatch staff talking to person from the community

Encouraging people to plan for care needs ‘just in case’ is biggest hurdle for the Government’s Green Paper

New research suggests a lack of information and support is preventing people from thinking about the care they may want or need in the future.

Most people don’t like thinking about their pension or the prospect of drawing up a will, but people are aware of these planning processes and engage...

18 September 2018

Man talks to female GP

Tell us your mental health support stories

We want to help people in danger of self-harm and suicide, making sure they get the support they need. Your story can help.

September 10 is World Suicide Prevention day, raising awareness of 800,000+ suicides every year globally – one person every 40 seconds.

10 September 2018

Women talking to receptionist

New report finds rise in written complaints for GP and dental practices

Read our response to a report by NHS Digital showing a 4.5% increase in complaints about primary care services.

In the last financial year there were 94,637 written complaints to primary care services, which includes GP and dental practices.

6 September 2018

Dad holding a baby

Tell us your story about maternal mental health

We want to know more about your experience of mental health support when planning to get pregnant, during pregnancy, at the birth of your child and afterwards.

group of photographs

Mental health support – what are we doing about it?

Late last year, we announced that we would be launching a multi-year project on mental health. Today, we have published an overview of this project and an outline of our first research phase.

Man speaking to his GP

Making sure GPs provide information in a way that people can understand

After being told by patients that local GPs weren’t meeting the needs of patients with communication difficulties, one local Healthwatch decided to take action.

Latest reports and publications

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What do people want from social care?

18 September 2018

Last year, local Healthwatch identified social care as one of the key...

Graphic of speech bubbles

What people have told us about mental health

For the past three years, mental health has been the number one...

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Mental health support - an overview of our future work

Find out more about our upcoming work on mental health and our first...

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Our public Committee Meeting August 2018 supporting materials

Find out what more about what we'll be talking about at our...