Healthwatch Salford - NHS Long Term Plan

The survey closed on 26th April and the results will help to influence decision making at 3 different levels:

• Locally – we shared our reports with each of the neighbourhood teams across Salford
• Regionally – together with the other 9 Healthwatch organisations across Greater Manchester created a combined report of what people are telling us
• Nationally – Healthwatch England published a report of their findings from the 152 Healthwatch organisations across England

296 people took part in the survey and this is what they told us:

Prevention – How to stay healthy It is important for patients to have access to health and care treatment when they need it Patients want the freedom and choice to be able to decide where to go for their health and care services, but they also need the right information to be able to help themselves. Access needs to be improved to gyms and other exercise programmes.

Personalisation – How health and care is delivered It is important that choosing the right treatment should be a joint decision between the healthcare professional and the patient Patients want to choose where they go to for treatment. Any decisions about their care should include the patient and they should also be given time to consider their options. Communication between primary and secondary care needs to improve.

Care Closer to Home – Staying independent It is important for people to be able to stay in their own home for as long as it is safe to do so People want to be able to stay in their own home for as long as it was safe to do so but need the services (Home Care Services) to be efficient, affordable and reliable in order to do so.

Technology – How the NHS communicates with patients It is important that patients are able to talk to their Doctor or other healthcare professional from wherever they are Some respondents didn’t shy away from the use of technology in communicating with the NHS but this technology needs to be simple to use and more importantly, reliable. Services need to remember that not everyone is comfortable.