Our news
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What do you think?
03/06/2019
Please take two minutes to help us plan for the next five years Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are the local champion for people who use...
AGM and Healthwatch showcase event
29/05/2019
Come to our Annual General Meeting, help us celebrate the successes of the last year and join our conversation about improving local mental health...
Hearing loss often ignored
08/05/2019
Hearing loss is a condition ignored by society and the people who have it. Frances Dewhurst, one of our Healthwatch Directors, tells us why deaf...
We will ask questions about why the older people's contract didn't work
03/12/2015
Today we heard the news that the older people's adult community services contract with Uniting Care didn't work out, as it wasn't financially sustainable. We were told that that contract would transfer back to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group. They awarded the original...
News from our Board meeting on 18 November 2015
19/11/2015
At last nights Healthwatch Cambridgeshire Board meeting, our Chair Val Moore reported on her first two months in post. She has met with many of the local leaders in health and care organisations. She has also spent time talking and listening to people within Healthwatch, including our volunteers...
Gypsy Traveller health needs
18/11/2015
Healthwatch has an important role to play in listening to the experiences of people who are not always heard by local decision makers. Gypsy and Traveller populations make up the largest ethnic minority communities in Cambridgeshire. Dr Kate D’Arcy has been helping us find out about the health...
My Own Mind report published
21/10/2015
Yesterday we launched our My Own Mind report, looking at Ely College students' attitudes to stress and anxiety. We worked closely with the sixth form health and social care students to develop this exciting new project. They told us young people's mental wellbeing was important to them. They wanted...
Local care homes welcoming and friendly
15/10/2015
Six local care homes were “welcoming and friendly” when we visited them this summer to find out what it was like to live there. In each of the homes we saw staff being respectful, kind and friendly towards residents, who appeared to be “well looked after”. We found that the residents we spoke to...
“Inadequate” rated hospital is a warning about capacity in our health and care system
22/09/2015
Today, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published their report on Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (Addenbrookes and the Rosie Hospitals) which gives the Trust an overall rating of ‘inadequate’. The Trust has been placed in "special measures" by Monitor, who are taking enforcement action...
A step forward for podiatry care in Cambridgeshire
17/09/2015
Earlier this week the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) updated their Podiatry Services Policy, after we raised some issues about inconsistencies in access to care. Some people had told us about problems they were having getting podiatry services on the NHS. We...
Val Moore appointed as our new Chair
08/09/2015
Val Moore, most recently a director at NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has been appointed as the new Chair of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire. As Chair Val will provide us with a strategic lead as well as sitting on local health and care policy boards, such as the Cambridgeshire...
"My Own Mind" - our young people's mental health project
20/08/2015
Earlier this summer we worked with the health and social care class at Ely 6th form, to find out what makes students in the college feel stressed and anxious. We wanted to know about young people's coping strategies when stressful situations arose, and what else could help them. The students helped...
Trans and waiting too long for treatment?
30/07/2015
Healthwatch Cambridgeshire wants to know if you have been waiting too long for an appointment at a gender identity clinic. We are your local champion in health and care services and part of our job is to make sure that you are listened to when care is not working in the way it should be. Our...
Ruth Rogers steps down as Chair of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire
24/07/2015
Last night our Healthwatch team said goodbye to Ruth Rogers, who stepped down from her role as Chair at our Annual General Meeting on 15th July. We met Ruth one final time for a celebration meal, to thank her for the contribution she has made to our Healthwatch, and wish her well in her post...
We have won an award for our work with the CQC!!!
01/07/2015
Making a difference with the Care Quality Commission 2014-2015 Last night we received an award for "Making a difference with the Care Quality Commission" (CQC) at the Healthwatch national annual conference. We were presented with our award by David Behan, Chief Executive of the CQC. There were more...
Thank you to our volunteers at First Steps to Health launch
16/06/2015
First Steps to Health report is positive about local GP care Yesterday we officially launched our “First Steps to Health” report into local GP, NHS 111 and Pharmacy services, at a special "thank you" event for our vounteers. We wanted to find out how people used these services, if they had enough...
Can you book it?
05/06/2015
Some women have told us they have had problems getting a smear test at a time and place which suits them. We know that women in Cambridgeshire have less choices over where they can go for a smear test. Local women have also told us about problems they have had re-arranging breast screening...
Working with our wonderful volunteers
03/06/2015
Our volunteers We think all of our volunteers are pretty amazing, giving up their freetime to help you have your say on local health and care services. Without their support, we would find it hard to listen to the experiences of as many people in the community as we do. Our volunteers do a range of...
First Steps to Health report published
01/06/2015
Over 1,000 people told us what their First Steps to Health would be, in an innovative survey to find out about local people's attitudes to using primary care services. We wanted to know what you would do about different health problems that you or someone you knew was experiencing. Would you treat...
Lack of choice for local women to book their smear tests
12/03/2015
You told us that sometimes it was difficult to book a smear test at a time and place that worked for you. We know that the take up for smear tests is low amongst women in Cambridgeshire; this was reported in the most recent Annual Public Health Report for Cambridgeshire. NHS Choices says, "If you...
Help Healthwatch make sure patient voices are listened to at Hinchingbrooke
09/02/2015
We need to hear about your care at Hinchingbrooke Hospital Healthwatch Cambridgeshire’s job is to make sure that local people are listened to when important decisions are made about the future of their local care services. We are helping to look at how well care is working at Hinchingbrooke...
Help us check on local Care Homes
23/01/2015
Be our eyes and ears on care in Cambridgeshire. We need your help to find out what life is like in local residential and nursing care homes, so we can develop our new project to "Enter & View" local care homes. As a local Healthwatch we have a statutory “Duty to Enter & View”. This is our...
The future of care at Hinchingbrooke Hospital
09/01/2015
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have placed Hinchingbrooke Hospital into Special Measures today, after an overall rating of Inadequate following their inspection in September 2014. Earlier in the morning Circle, the company who run the hospital, announced they will be withdrawing from their...
Local MP Dr Julian Huppert raises your issues in parliament
11/12/2014
You have told us that children and young people are waiting too long before they get help to manage their mental health. You have also told us your concerns around the quality of some of the support provided to children and young people. We are working with Pinpoint to talk to the people who make...
Local Healthwatch helping residents raise concerns about poor quality care
15/10/2014
Healthwatch Cambridgeshire’s work is included in a major new report from Healthwatch England into people’s experiences of using health & social care complaints systems. Healthwatch England published its report “Suffering in Silence”, into patients' and their families' views and experiences of...
Lead Provider for Older People's Programme announced
01/10/2014
Uniting Care Partnership awarded contract Healthwatch Cambridgeshire congratulates Uniting Care Partnership on being appointed as the “Lead Provider” of Older People's Health and Adult Community Services, by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group. Uniting Care Partnership are...
Happy & Healthy Project - engaging children
18/09/2014
This summer, we worked with year five children at Priory Junior School in St. Neots to find out what services in their community keep them happy and healthy. We worked with each class for a day. In the morning, we asked the children to think about what makes them happy and healthy. They talked...
Healthwatch Cambridgeshire launches Using People's Stories Guidance
12/09/2014
We have launched our own good practice guidance to collecting and using people's stories to help improve health and care services. Using people’s stories is integral to all we do as a local Healthwatch; it helps us build an evidence base that we can use to help inform service improvement. We want...
