Shropshire Star

Hundreds in Shropshire share their views on the NHS

Hundreds of people in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin have shared their views on how to improve local NHS services.

Published

Easier access to treatment and services, help with making lifestyle choices, better information about support available, improved communication around prevention; and more training for healthcare staff on conditions such as mental health were the top five things people in the region would like to see implemented to help them lead healthy lives.

Their views were shared as part of Healthwatch Shropshire and Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin’s 'What Would You Do?' campaign.

More than 640 residents, patients and their families took part in the campaign, which launched in March to encourage people in the region to share their views about how extra money from the Government should be spent on local NHS services.

The public were asked to give their views about how local services could improve, and to share ideas about how the NHS can help people live healthier lives and take more control of their care.

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The report also reveals people in the region would like professionals to take a person-centre approach, that they want easier access to GP appointments and local services to meet local needs.

Lynn Cawley, chief officer at Healthwatch Shropshire, said: “The Government is investing an additional £20 billion a year in the NHS as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. We were asked to help find out what local people thought was the best way for the NHS in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin to invest in the right services as part of this plan.”

"Both Healthwatch will continue to share any results from our wider engagement, including relevant comments and reports with the STP so that the views of people in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin continue to be taken into account as the Long Term Plan is implemented.”

Paul Shirley, general manager at Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, said: “We are grateful to all the people that took part in the surveys and focus groups. The groups that reported the poorest experiences of getting help were those people who had long-term conditions such as arthritis and diabetes, people with mental health difficulties and people with heart and lung disease. The majority of respondents from these three groups also reported feeling that they had not received timely and consistent information about their condition from all services.

“However, people with cancer seemed to be the happiest with the communication that they had received. All this feedback is in our new report which has been presented to the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Sustainability and Transformation Partnership."