News and reports

Healthwatch Croydon has recently conducted a mystery shop of GPs in the borough of Croydon, we looked at a number of factors which highlighted some recommendations for improvement. We think this report makes for very interesting reading, especially the comments made from those GP surgeries that performed well and provided accurate information to local people in Croydon.

We wanted to see how well Croydon’s GP practices performed in the following areas:

Waiting time
Staff attitude and helpfulness
Accuracy
Website

Over the last couple of months, we have worked with members of the community as well as partner stakeholders to collect feedback on how Croydon’s Dementia carers have experienced local healthcare services. We have certainly heard a lot of heartfelt stories from this hard to reach group the comments provided will certainly help to improve and shape future services.

Healthwatch Croydon invited Croydon residents to ask questions directly to those changing Croydon’s adult mental health services including NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Attendees got to hear more about the future of these services in Croydon in relation to national plans for mental health outlined in NHS England’s Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

Following our previous report published in February 2018, on homeless living in hostels, Healthwatch Croydon wanted in understand the views of those living on the street,working with Crisis Skylight Croydon.

This report looks at those rough sleeping in Croydon and their access to health services.

This report documents the results of a survey by Healthwatch Croydon of users of Personal Independence Coordinators, or PICs, in Croydon and their experience of the service. PICs is an output of the One Croydon Alliance of NHS providers, Croydon Council and Age UK Croydon.

Read questions from Croydon residents and answers NHS Croydon CCG and One Croydon about changes to health services that were raised as part of our Meet the Changemakers event on 13 March 2018.

Our Patient Experience Panel data analysis raised issues about Croydon University Hospital elderly wards. We visited and spoke to patients to find out their experiences. Considerations around training, stimulation and opportunities to feedback where recorded, and the report was received positively by management

This report recorded the experiences of homeless people who were referred by the council into support hostels in November 2017. It found that adult homeless, particularly those with complex needs, were not supported by GP practices as well as younger homeless in similar accommodation and suggests considerations for service providers.

This report focuses on how well GPs in Croydon have supported BME carers both in terms of their own health and wellbeing and in their caring role.

Our study raises both areas of concern and highlights good practice in terms of the support that GPs are offering BME carers in Croydon.

Three GP hubs were opened in Croydon in April 2017 offering walk-in services and booked appointments with GPs.

Healthwatch Croydon visited the hubs over a two-week period in the summer to understand how the service was perceived by patients.

Healthwatch Croydon conducted a survey at the Healthy Living Hub (HLH) between 23 and 30 March 2017.

It had been advertised that some of services at the Healthy Living Hub were being reduced and given previous reductions in service, HWC were keen to understand how the service was perceived and experienced by the users.

Our snapshot report aimed to register views on the current service and also understand where service users might go if this service did not exist. Engaging with 124 service users in total, we asked how they found out about the service, how often they use it, and which aspects they find most useful. We also asked where they would go, if they could not access the service.

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