1. Healthwatch Kent visits 24 Care Homes in Kent

    Report -

    Across the country, Independent Age has been working with Healthwatch to explore what people are looking for when choosing a care home.

  2. We hear from children and young people

    Report -

    Children and young people from across Kent & Medway have talked to us about their experience of using health and social care services.

  3. The reality of autism for young people and their families in Kent

    Report -

    We hear about the difficulties families face when accessing support for their children who may be autistic. We wanted to explore the issues in more detail and gather more feedback about services for children and young people who have autism.

  4. You Said We Did in 2021 and 2022

    Report -

    What have we done with your voice

  5. You Said, We Did 2023

    Report -

    What have we done with your voice in April?

  6. You Said We Did April 2016 - December 2020

    Report -

    What have we done with your voice between April 2016 and March 2019?

  7. Improvements to hospital discharge in North Kent

    Report -

    Thanks to you, we have been able to improve people's experience of being discharged from hospital in North Kent.

  8. You Said, We Did April 2019 - March 2020

    Report -

    What have we done with your voice between April 2019 and March 2020?

  9. How easy is it to attend a hospital appointment if you use a communication aid?

    Report -

    That's the question we asked ourselves when we visited Tunbridge Wells Hospital recently.

  10. Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report

    Report -

    Read Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board's 2022/23 annual report, acknowledging the large range of work done to safeguard vulnerable people who may be at risk across Kent and Medway.

  11. Focus on Patient Experience

    Report -

    NHS Trusts all over Kent come to Healthwatch regularly seeking guidance on how to involve patients, carers and families more constructively in their services.  In this report, we discuss patient experience.

  12. Driving improvements to wheelchair services

    Report -

    We’ve been working with the Kent Physical Disability Forum for over a year now to help improve the wheelchair service for thousands of people in Kent.

  13. We ensure your voice is heard for the future of Extra Care Housing

    Report -

    When you get older, you may need to have care in your home. Many people consider moving into Extra Care Housing which ensures you have your own home but care and support is available should you need it. We wanted to know what you may want.

  14. We throw a spotlight on commissioning

    Report -

    With the commissioning landscape across Kent & Medway changing, we have been working to ensure the voice of patients is heard clearly by decision makers.

  15. Driving improvements to community mental health

    Report -

    Recently we have revisited six Community Mental Health clinics to see what changes have been made since our first reports.

    We spoke to 128 patients and 25 carers.

  16. Update on Autism services in Kent

    Report -

    Last year, we published a report about Autism services in Kent for children and young people.

    We had heard from people about a whole range of issues including a lack of information and support for children and families.

  17. How did people cope during lockdown in April?

    Report -

    Since early April, we have been listening to people's stories about lockdown. We wanted to understand how they have been coping.

  18. Healthwatch Kent Annual Report 2019/20

    Report -

    If you want to know a bit more about us and what we achieved over the past year, then this is the document for you : our annual report for 2019/2020

  19. How did people cope during lockdown in May?

    Report -

    Since the beginning of lockdown, we have been collating feedback from people about how they are coping. Read our report which summarises what everyone told us in May.

  20. Kent Care Homes & Covid : The Reality

    Report -

    Today we are publishing a report detailing feedback from 204 Care Homes across Kent. The report shares what it has been like during COVID-19 and what lessons have been learnt.

  21. How did people cope during lockdown in June?

    Report -

    Since the beginning of lockdown, we have been collating feedback from people about how they are coping. Read our report which summarises what everyone told us in June.

  22. Looking for those that don't know they need to be found

    Report -

    We know that more people than ever before have been looking after someone during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  23. How did people cope during August?

    Report -

    Since the start of the pandemic, we have been sharing with decision makers in the NHS and social care details of how the public are coping.

  24. How are you coping? We're hear to listen

    Report -

    Every month, we share with you the stories that we're hearing from people in Kent about how they are coping.

  25. Pharmacies & Covid : The Reality

    Report -

    We have today published a joint report with Healthwatch Medway detailing feedback from 101 pharmacies across Kent and Medway. The report details what it has been like during COVID-19 and what lessons have been learnt.

  26. What did you tell us in September?

    Report -

    The latest in our series of monthly reports details feedback from people all over Kent about how they are coping right now.

  27. What did you tell us in October?

    Report -

    Every month we publish a report detailing the issues people have told us about. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share their stories with us. Your feedback makes a huge difference for hundreds of other people.

  28. Spotlight on dental services

    Report -

    Since the start of the pandemic, we have had a constant stream of feedback about NHS dental services.

  29. What did you tell us in November?

    Report -

    Thanks everyone for sharing their thoughts and experiences with us this month.

    This report details everything you told us in November. We've shared your stories with decision makers to help them make decisions about services.

  30. What did people tell us in the first two weeks of January?

    Report -

    You spoke and we have listened. Read on to find out what you told us in the first two weeks of January.

  31. What did people tell us in the second two weeks of January?

    Report -

    You spoke and we have listened. Read on to find out what you told us in the second two weeks of January.

  32. What did you tell us in Feb?

    Report -

    Thanks to everyone who shared their story with us over the first two weeks of February despite the big freeze!

  33. Read what people told us in the last two weeks of Feb

    Report -

    Every day we listen to people who tell us their experience of using Kent's health and social care services right now. Our job is to make sure your voice is heard by the right people, at the right time, in the right way.

  34. Your feedback can help generate change

    Report -

    Every day people contact us to share their story about health and social care services. We're raising these voices to ensure the right people hear the feedback and can make changes as a result. Read our report detailing what people told us in March.

  35. The Healthwatch Kent Guide to Pre-consultation & Engagement

    Report -

    During our work to scrutinise consultations; poor pre-consultation engagement was the main area vulnerable to legal challenge via judicial review.

  36. Helping our volunteers to learn digital skills

    Report -

    During the pandemic, we wanted to ensure that our volunteers could continue to feel involved and empowered to complete their work in a digital world

  37. What did you tell us in March?

    Report -

    As we reached a year since Covid restrictions began, people continue to contact us to share how they are coping right now. Read our report to find out what people are talking about in March.

  38. What have we achieved this year?

    Report -

    It's been a year that none of us could have predicted. But what have we achieved?

    Read our annual report to find out what difference we made in 2020/21.





  39. Pharmacies learning lessons in Covid

    Report -

    Last year, over 100 community pharmacists told us what life had been like for them during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. Now, we've gone back to them to see what lessons have been learned since our first report.

  40. Did you find it easy to get your covid vaccine?

    Report -

    Last year, 77 people got in touch with us about the Covid vaccination programme. 48% of these people were people struggling to ‘grab their jab’.

  41. Giving the Trans & Non-binary community in Kent a voice

    Report -

    For six months we have been working with the Trans & Non-binary community here in Kent listening to their experiences and exploring what could be changed to support them better.

  42. What did we hear in September?

    Report -

    In September we reached 2,220 people. This is what they told us.

  43. What did we hear in October?

    Report -

    In October, 1,801 people came to us for information, support or to tell us their experience of using a health or social service.

  44. Spotlight on reducing digital exclusion

    Report -

    Many organisations in Kent are working hard to tackle the inequality caused by our increasing reliance on technology. We decided to review one of these projects to see what difference it is really making to people.

  45. What did we hear in November?

    Report -

    In November, 3,571 people came to us for information, support or to tell us their experience of using a health or social service.

  46. What did you tell us in December?

    Report -

    2,438 of you came to us in December to share your experience of using health and social care services or to seek information.

  47. Making it easier for people with learning difficulties to attend hospital appointments in East Kent

    Report -

    We've been working with East Kent Hospitals for several years now helping them to make it easier for people with learning difficulties to attend a hospital appointment. Check out what's changed as a result.

  48. Read our scrutiny of the public consultation on Ruby Ward

    Report -

    One of our statutory responsibilities is to act as a critical friend on public consultations. Our role is to ensure people have been involved and listened to as part of any public consultation.

  49. What did you tell us in January?

    Report -

    2,624 of you came to us in January to share your experience of using health and social care services or to seek information.

  50. How do we make our decisions?

    Report -

    It's important to us that you know how we make our decisions.

    In this section you will find the minutes from our steering group meetings plus an overall explanation about how we make our decisions on a daily basis.