Resources

Healthwatch South Tees (HWST) worked in partnership with the Tees Valley Healthwatch Network to create a survey to ascertain local views of accessing mental health and well-being services. They received a total of 525 survey responses and spoke to 65 people during the six focus group sessions they facilitated. The team made it their priority to connect with seldom heard groups to truly reflect the diversity of South Tees communities. During the focus groups, they spoke to carers, older people, ethnic minority groups and people with a visual impairment.

Kinship’s State of the Nation Survey is an annual survey that explores what life is like for kinship carers in England and Wales. It enables the charity and wider sector to identify and respond to emerging issues, and to track issues over time.

Key Findings:

New research from national charity Carers UK shows the NHS Discharge to Assess model, which sees patients’ ongoing care needs assessed only after they have left hospital, is failing to include family carers in the discharge process and putting patients’ health at risk.

The latest Healthwatch South Tees (HWST) Annual Report includes experiences of local communities accessing GP services and how this has been managed, as well as information about the South Tees Children's Autism Pathway and how HWST responded to COVID-19. 

To sign up to HWST monthly e-bulletin's to hear about local community support and activities and updates about our work, please click here.

Research released for Carers Week has found that carers lost, on average, 25 hours of support a month they previously had from services or family and friends before the pandemic.

72% of carers have not had any breaks from their caring role at all. Of those who got a break, a third (33%) used the time to complete practical tasks or housework, and a quarter (26%) to attend their own medical appointments.