In early July 2025, peer researchers; Abi, David and Kirsty, Lisa from Ingeus, Val from EPOP, and Kat from the University research team, went on a trip to the Healthwatch County Durham Annual Event. Healthwatch gathers feedback on people’s experiences with health and social care services and uses that information to improve services. There is a Healthwatch in every area of England.
There were approximately 42 people at the event, they told us that they have 23 volunteers including board members.
At the three-hour event, we heard about the vital work Healthwatch County Durham staff and volunteers do collecting views of people in County Durham about their healthcare. The priorities for the coming year (2025-2026) identified by the community are: primary care, medication changes, hospital services and mental health. As a group we reflected that some of the concerns of the wider community are similar to those we have heard from justice-involved people -in particular mental health and access to primary care- although they are likely to be more severe / pronounced in justice-involved people.
At the end of the event there was a presentation from a GP practice manager and the chance to ask them questions. David asked a question about why a receptionist wouldn’t help a baby of a family member. We felt the practice manager avoided the question, and said they weren’t sure because it wasn’t their practice. Lisa asked a question about how people who have no fixed-address can register with a GP surgery – something that often affects justice-involved populations. The manager replied that at their surgery they would be registered to the surgery address, and they felt all surgeries should offer this, however they were aware other surgeries often don’t. As a group we thought both questions highlighted the inconsistency in GP practices, and how confusing this can be for people.
In addition to the formal presentations, we had a lovely lunch, took part in a Mentimeter quiz and saw a prize awarded to a long standing Healthwatch volunteer. We wondered if it would be possible to use Mentimeter to liven up any of our research activities – watch this space!
By David, Abi and Kat