News and reports

If you need to travel from the Isle of Wight to the mainland for an NHS-funded hospital appointment, you can get 50% off your ferry crossing with Wightlink.

Call 0333 999 7333 to book, quoting 'Wightlink healthcare discount'.

Full information and terms and conditions are available at www.wightlink.co.uk/nhsappointments

Like many organisations, general practice needed to adapt quickly as our country went into lockdown and respond to new ways of working such as offering video and telephone consultations. Some people have told us that these new ways of accessing GP services have
worked well for them, allowing them to save time and get the help they need, quickly. But for others it’s been more difficult, time consuming and frustrating trying to access support when they need it.

The health and social care landscape has changed a lot in ten years, but thanks to you taking the time to share your story with Healthwatch Isle of Wight, we've been able to champion your voice to help improve care.

The rising cost of living is an issue that is likely to dominate the national policy debates for the next 18 months. We want to help decision-makers understand the impact on people's physical and mental health. We know that rising costs have a direct effect on people's wellbeing and would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this.

Every year, Healthwatch Isle of Wight looks at five health and social care services/topics in depth, highlighting people’s experiences of this service, looking at what is working well and what needs to be improved.

How people feel about waiting to access hospital care: Findings from a patient survey.

It has been generally accepted that during the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a gradual increase in the prevalence of mental health conditions, primarily anxiety & depression. The Local Government Association described this as a ‘silent pandemic'.

Throughout this very difficult year we have continued listening to the
experiences of islanders on the full range of health and social care services.

The Accessible Information Standard is mandatory for all organisations that provide National Health Service (NHS) or adult social care. Here's some key information about the accessible communications you should expect from services.

Healthwatch Isle of Wight is reaching out to Island communities to hear from people directly about their experiences of accessing primary care and would particularly like to hear about people’s recent experiences after June this year.

An Island-wide 'listening tour' gets underway this month encouraging people to talk about their mental health and wellbeing during the past 18 months.

In the period 1st April 2020 – 31st March 2021, Healthwatch Isle of Wight received 1415 pieces of feedback regarding Health and Social care, directly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.