News and reports

The Department of Health and Social Care invited Healthwatch Kent to participate in a consultation on the creation of the NHS Online Trust. The Online Trust will be a digital only service available nationwide, with the first patients receiving care in 2027. As part of this consultation we reviewed all the feedback we have received on digital systems in health and social care since 2023.

D/deaf residents and Nepalese communities across Kent and Medway continue to face significant barriers when trying to access their GP. Recent feedback shared with Healthwatch Kent and Healthwatch Medway highlights how communication challenges—combined with the ongoing shift towards digital-first care—are leaving some people without the support they need.
This page shares what we heard, why it matters, and what needs to change.

Healthwatch Kent spoke to patients, carers and healthcare professionals about their experiences of live-in care after hospital discharge. We found that the programme helped patients return home safely and regain confidence, while giving carers reassurance and peace of mind. However, communication gaps and limited involvement of carers in planning were common challenges, alongside missed opportunities for patients to meet their care worker before discharge.

From September 2024, we started to receive more feedback on people’s experiences of mental health crisis support. This emerged from what people told us through Mental Health Voice, Healthwatch Kent and Healthwatch Medway without any targeted prompts for mental health crisis. To understand what people were telling us, we identified and analysed 489 related experiences from January 2024 to February 2025.

Healthwatch Recognition Awards – Back for Our 5th Year!
We’re thrilled to announce that the Healthwatch Recognition Awards are back for their fifth year! This special event celebrates the incredible work happening across Kent and Medway to make health and social care better for everyone. Join us as we recognise those who go above and beyond to put people at the heart of services.

Healthwatch Kent and EK360 have released a report looking at the A&E hospital departments in East Kent. We spoke to 50 people at William Harvey Hospital and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital to understand what led them to attend A&E—and whether their visit could have been avoided.

Healthwatch Kent worked with Healthwatch Medway, Medway and Swale HaCP, Medway Council and Involving Medway and Swale to seek the views of young people and professionals that work with young people. In this spotlight report we have gathered data around the rising issue of self-harm.

We have published our report on Kent and Medway veteran's experience of health and social care since their discharge from the Armed Forces.

Healthwatch Kent is proud to share our annual report for the year 2024-2025.

This year, EK360 hosted the 4th Annual Kent & Medway Healthwatch Recognition Awards where we celebrated some of the amazing work happening in health and social care across Kent & Medway.

We have published a report on the Home First service in East Kent, an early support service designed to help people back to living as independently as possible after a hospital stay.

When you think of Health and Social Care, and your wellbeing, your initial thoughts probably don’t go towards housing.