bristol women's voice - Healthwatch Bristol

BRISTOL WOMEN’S VOICE Bristol Women’s Voice is a powerful voice for women aiming to make women’s equality in Bristol a reality. Healthwatch Bristol visited their International Women’s Day event and engaged with the attendees to listen to their concerns about health and social care service.

Bristol Women’s Voice Bristol Women’s Voice makes sure that when key decisions are taken in Bristol, women’s voices have been listened to and their ideas and concerns acted upon. There year’s theme is “Take Up Space” – women are under-represented in many spheres of life – Bristol Women’s Voice (BWV) is a powerful voice for women aiming to make women’s equality in Bristol a reality. Bristol Women’s Voice bring together women to share ideas, exchange experiences, support campaigns and events and celebrate success so that together we can make Bristol a showcase for women’s involvement, empowerment and equality. BWV aims to: • • • •

Promote and publicise campaigns and events that advance the equality of women Support Bristol Women’s Commission and work with decision makers to ensure actions are taken which make a real difference to women’s lives Inform women about organisations that provide support and advice and help women set up their own support networks Celebrate success

BWV has been set up with support from Bristol City Council but is independent of the council. BWV is managed and chosen by Bristol women for Bristol women. BWV is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation managed by Bristol women chosen by Bristol women for Bristol women .The overall direction and strategy of BWV is decided by the members, but there is a Board of Trustees that run things day to day. Their main source of funding comes from Bristol City Council and Public Health. BWV held Bristol’s International Women’s Day event on Saturday 4th March at M Shed with the aim of bringing women’s voices to the forefront, and showing the value that women have in our city. The day was full of celebrations, fun workshops and activities. All women were welcomed from around the city. There was a free crèche on the day as well as free pre-arranged transport services was arranged to collect and take home groups of women from across the City. For more information visit www.bristolwomensvoice.org.uk

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Healthwatch Bristol attend Bristol Women Voice event celebrating International Women’s day with the aim of bring women’s voices to the forefront listening to their views/experiences of Health and Social Care services.

HEALTHWATCH BRISTOL Healthwatch is the official framework through which local people can have their say about health and social care services. Healthwatch works on behalf of the whole of the community – children, young people and adults and needs people to tell it what’s going on in the health and social care services in their area. Healthwatch can tell services about patient experiences of care and hold them to account; it can also enter and view services such as care homes and hospitals, observe what is happening and report back to commissioners. People can feel excluded from services and we know that access to services and treatment is not always equal to all, so Healthwatch also has a signposting function to navigate the health and social care system. Healthwatch Bristol is independent, transparent and accountable and powerful, with the strength of the law and the national influence of Healthwatch England behind it. Healthwatch Bristol is provided by The Care Forum. W: www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk W: www.thecareforum.org

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Healthwatch recognises that some people may feel uncomfortable giving feedback about a health and social service they use and so provided people

with the opportunity to give comments anonymously. This approach helped the service users feel more open and able to speak freely about the services they use. Healthwatch spoke in English, Urdu and Punjabi to the service users introducing them to Healthwatch and explaining the purpose of the visit, this helped to reassure people whose first language was Urdu and Punjabi to understand why Healthwatch was there and helped some people feel reassured that they could communicate in their mother tongue if they wished. The presentation was clearly delivered to ensure that everyone, regardless of disability or needs (for example people who were hard of hearing), had understood and felt comfortable with Healthwatch being present. The one to one opportunities were offered to help service users feel more able and comfortable sitting and speaking to HW. This also provided a quieter choice as the event was very busy and noisy as it was very well attend. HW were keen to hear from participants about their experiences of health and social care services in general; share information about volunteering with HW; and provide information about Well Aware, NHS Complaints Advocacy and Complaints Procedure Advocacy and AVoice advocacy services.

Healthwatch Bristol Feedback 15 Comments received

Primary Care 1 Negative

2 Mixed

5 Positive

Montpelier Health Centre: Commentator said that she has had very positive experiences with Montpelier Health Centre and her GP, who she feels spends time listening to concerns and has had a very good experience so far. Eastville Health Centre: Commentator speaks very little English and when she attends she requires a Chinese translator. She feels that her GP is good and the help and support of the translator ensures her voice is being heard.

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White Ladies Health Centre: Commentator stated that it is really easy to get an appointment and that her GP was really good with regards to her 13years mental health, anxiety condition with recommendations of wellbeing therapies, mindfulness and follow up appointments. She felt that the treatment care and support she received was immense. Frome Valley Medical Centre: Commentator informed Healthwatch that there were long waiting times for appointments but an excellent service when seen. Prior Surgery Knowle: Commentator feels that the service has declined since a closure of a nearby practice has increased patient numbers. She says that they have recruited more GP’s but the transition period is still very unsettled and getting an appointment now is difficult, with more than a couple of weeks wait. She stated that this should be looked at and improved as the service’s are not running as smoothly as they were. Prior Surgery Knowle: Commentator had a recent experience of using her GP. She informed HW that she had called to make an appointment and when arriving for her appointment she waited 40 minutes. She then went to reception and asked if she had been forgotten? and was informed “probably”. A GP who was there said “follow me”. She said she was taken to a practice room where he asked, “I hope this isn’t going to be complicated?” Commentator said that she needed to talk about her anti-depressants and once she had spoken she felt he realised that he had been unprofessional and was ok after this. She felt that her problem was a difficult subject and feels he could have been more sensitive. She thought that the service she had received was poor. Bedminster Family Practice: Commentator stated that she had a phone consultation and that her GP was very sympathetic. Wellspring Surgery on line service: Commentator describes this service as “brilliant.”

Secondary Care 2 Negative

3 Mixed

2 Positive

Callington Road Hospital: Commentator was upset by her experience of being in hospital under a mental health section and felt she was forced to stay on the ward locked in, without being able to go out for fresh air on walks. She said

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that staff were too busy to attend to their patients’ needs, like getting a cup of tea or when asking for toilet paper. She said when she went there she witness other patients screaming and shouting saying that she was shocked, horrified and traumatised by her experience . The care and treatment she received was very poor. She feels that the whole system should be revolutionised and that grant and funds should be provided for more sympathetic staff. She would have liked to have seen supportive and caring staff who could have helped her with her conditioned. Callington Road Hospital: Commentator informed Healthwatch that another patient who also attended the Hospital whom English was not her first language was unaware of her rights and was having electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and felt very upset and distraught with this technique of treatment. Commentator informed her that she was within her rights to refuse this method of treatment and felt that because of the language barrier and lack of communication that she was not informed about this and extra care/translator should have been provided so that she was more aware of choice of treatments. Southmead Hospital: Commentator said that she experienced excruciating pain when having a colonoscopy. She said that she was in pain and that the pain relief she was provided was not adequate as she was still experiencing severe pain. She was upset and felt that she was not heard by the Nurses who continued with the procedure. She has written a letter of complaint to the hospital and has had an unsatisfactory response, so she has since sent another letter complaining about her experience and feeling that her matter was not taken on board. She is still awaiting for a response from the hospital Chief Executive. St Michael’s Hospital: Commentator was treated on post-surgery ward for sepsis and said she received excellent care from nursing auxiliary staff adding that she felt safe with the treatment and care she received. Southmead Hospital: Commentator attended hospital when she had spinal surgery and said that the nurses in in recovery were amazing. On the ward she felt it was a very different, she said, “I felt like a production line item being moved around. Food was difficult to obtain and due to a kitchen mix up I was left without food.” Bristol Royal Infirmary: Commentator’s husband had heart surgery valve replacement. She informed Healthwatch that the operation was a success but the aftercare was not sufficient. He had stayed in six days in hospital and

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intensive care for just a few hours. Commentator feels that he was quickly moved to high independency unit ward within the same day of his operation. She is disappointed in the care he received and felt more time and effort should have been spent caring for his needs and feels that there is room for improvement here. Accident and Emergency Southmead: Commentator informed Healthwatch that she had bumped her head and had a seizure and when being treated the medical staff were very through when she had stitches. She said the treatment and care was great and complete they also gave her makeup advice on how she could conceal her stitches.

Community Services Kingwood Day Centre: Commentator works at the day centre and said that it provides a great service for the elderly community in Kingswood and surroundings. She is disappointed that funding/council has been cut and at the moment the day centre runs five days a week but is due to be cut due to funding restrictions this will change. She said that many service users are upset and disappointed and have been moved due to costs implications. She stated that many of the service users and staff are disappointed in the cuts and changes which are occurring.

Key themes • Primary care: although there was positive feedback about the quality of treatment and attitudes of staff, commentators reported dissatisfaction with waiting times for appointments. • Secondary care: there was mixed feedback about the quality of treatment in hospital settings, but both positive and negative comments highlight the importance of health staff explaining diagnoses, treatment and waiting times in a clear and compassionate manner. • The use of interpreters is vital to ensure people with English as a second language understand their diagnosis, the treatment they receive and their rights.

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Recommendations • Information from this report will be shared with Bristol’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment to be considered in the chapter on Women’s health. • Healthwatch Bristol will use the information concerning the use of Interpreters in the upcoming work on language barriers.

Services included in this report: Montpelier Health Centre, Eastville Health Centre, White Ladies Health Centre, Frome Valley Medical Centre, Prior Surgery Knowle, Bedminster Family Practice, Wells Spring on line service, Callington Road Hospital, Southmead Hospital, St Michael’s Hospital, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Kingwood Day Centre, and Accident and Emergency Southmead

Healthwatch will….. All the feedback Healthwatch Bristol gathers is analysed and used to inform the Healthwatch Bristol quarterly Feedback Feed Forward reports which are shared with Healthwatch Bristol partners including Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group, the Bristol Health and Wellbeing Board, Bristol City Council, the Care Quality Commission, NHS England and Healthwatch England. The quarterly report is also presented to the Healthwatch Bristol Advisory Group to propose further uptake of the issues identified in the report. The report will be available on the Healthwatch Bristol website (www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk) and circulated to our mailing lists via the monthly e-bulletin.

Looking forward…. Plans for future work between Healthwatch Bristol and Bristol Women Voice to attend other events to gain their service users contributions.

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Healthwatch welcomes and encourages members of Bristol Women’s Voice to continue to contribute their feedback to us using the communication methods included at the end of this report. Healthwatch also supports members of community groups to become Volunteer Champions so that they can represent the experiences and needs of their community group. If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Healthwatch, please contact us using the details below.

Tell Us Your Story… Healthwatch Bristol wants to hear from you about your experiences so that we can tell services your needs to create the best local services. Text us - text bris followed by your message to 07860 021 603 Email us at [email protected] Call us: 0117 2690400 Write to us at: Healthwatch Bristol, The Care Forum, The Vassall Centre, Gill Ave, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2QQ Or visit our website to see more at: www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk

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