1. Survey of people waiting in Accident and Emergency at Northampton General Hospital, Kettering General Hospital and Corby Urgent Care Centre

    Report -

    Healthwatch volunteers and staff asked 565 people in the waiting areas at Northampton General Hospital A&E, Kettering General Hospital A&E and Corby Urgent Care Centre about their experiences of A&E and urgent care.

  2. Survey of patients waiting in Accident and Emergency at Northampton General Hospital

    Report -

    We asked 173 people in the A&E waiting area at NGH about what other services they had tried to access before going to A&E and what their experience was

  3. Annual Report 2013-14

    Report -

    Read all about our year!

  4. Make Your Voice Count Report

    Report -

    During September and October 2013, Healthwatch Northamptonshire ran a campaign called “Make Your Voice Count”.

  5. Dr David N Jones talks about A&E pressures on BBC Look East

    News -

    Healthwatch Northamptonshire Chair, David N Jones, spoke on BBC Look East about the building pressures for A&E and the changes to performance targets.

  6. Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire Takeover Day

    News -

    Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire volunteers took part in activities to find out more about Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital and to give young people a taste of future careers in the NHS

  7. Where can I go for help when I’m ill in winter?

    Advice and Information -

    Feeling unwell? Read on for advice about where you can go for help with your health during the winter months.

  8. The ‘Big Ideas’ people in Northamptonshire think would improve local health and care services

    Report -

    Healthwatch Northamptonshire and NHCP NHS Long Term Plan community engagement report now published!

  9. What would to do to improve local health services? #WhatWouldYouDo

    News -

    With growing pressure on the NHS – people living longer, more people living with long-term conditions, and lifestyle choices affecting people’s health – changes are needed to make sure everybody gets the support they need.

  10. Young Healthwatch attend training on how to use the 15 Steps Challenge tool

    News -

    This week we were pleased to run training about NHS England's 15 Step Challenge for young people from local Young Healthwatch's across the country.

  11. Northamptonshire Health, Care and Wellbeing Plan

    News -

    Join the conversation and have your say

  12. Most people still getting good care – but health and care system is ‘straining at the seams’, making future quality precarious

    News -

    This year’s State of Care shows that, thanks to the efforts of staff and leaders, the quality of health and social care has been maintained despite very real challenges and the majority of people are getting good, safe care.

  13. Quick poll results - Over half of you told us you find making a GP appointment difficult!

    News -

    Our September quick poll asked you how you find making an appointment with your GP surgery. Thank you to the 213 people who took part!

  14. How does the NHS in England work? An alternative guide

    Advice and Information -

    How does the NHS in England work? What organisations make it up? And how is it changing over time?

  15. Free NHS Health Checks for 40 - 74 year olds

    Advice and Information -

    The NHS Health Check is a health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74. It's designed to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia.

  16. Recently had vomiting and or diarrhoea? Please do not go into A&E or hospitals

    Advice and Information -

    Kettering General Hospital and Nene Clinical Commissioning Group are urging local people not to attend A&E – or visit relatives in hospitals – if they have, or have recently had, vomiting and/or diarrhoea.

  17. Quick poll results - You told us how you felt about Out of Hours being moved nearer to A&E

    Response -

    Your questions regarding our “Out of Hours” quick poll have been answered!

  18. Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire takes part in Takeover Day

    News -

    Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire took part in Takeover Day at Kettering General Hospital.

  19. Kettering General Hospital and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire shortlisted for National Award

    News -

    Kettering General Hospital and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire have been shortlisted for a national award for work they have undertaken with young people.

  20. Successful procurements mean Corby’s Urgent Care Centre will continue and an extra 1,000 NHS appointments a month will be available via a brand-new service

    Advice and Information -

    NHS Corby Clinical Commissioning Group has successfully procured two new contracts - meaning Corby’s Urgent Care Centre (UCC) service will continue and a new service providing 1,000 extra GP related appointments a month will be on offer to patients.

  21. Kettering General Hospital and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire wins PENNA award in 'Team of the Year' Category

    News -

    Kettering General Hospital and Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire have won a national award for work they have undertaken with young people.

  22. Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Shooting Stars premier video about visit to Kettering General Hospital

    News -

    Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Shooting Stars teamed up to create a short film about their visit to Kettering General Hospital.

  23. Joint Community Engagement Event – 2 May 2019

    News -

    To inform future changes in the health and care system in the county, Connected Together CIC, Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership (NHCP), held a successful community engagement event with around 90 attendees.

  24. Thank you: Nearly 300 people told Healthwatch Northamptonshire what they think would make health and care better

    News -

    Local people shared their views about how they want local health and care services to improve.

  25. The CQC rates EMAS as ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ for caring

    News -

    Congratulations to East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) which was graded overall as 'Good', with 'Outstanding' for the care that it provides, in the recent Care Quality Commission inspection report.

  26. Our Volunteer roles

    Report -

    There are different ways in which you can become involved depending on your interests and how much time you would like to commit.

  27. Have you had a bad experience of NHS administration? We need your views.

    News -

    Have you had problems with NHS administrative processes, such as booking appointments, referrals, prescriptions or other correspondence with NHS services? We want to hear how people's care experience has been affected by poor NHS administration.

  28. Advice for parents during coronavirus - what to do if your child is unwell or injured

    Advice and Information -

    Whilst it is extremely important to follow Government advice to stay at home during this period, it can be confusing to know what to do when your child is unwell or injured.

  29. Help local NHS staff transport their uniforms safely with drawstring bags

    Blog -

    Do you want to help the NHS while having something to do at home? Join in with making drawstring uniform bags for NHS staff.

  30. Cancer and coronavirus

    Advice and Information -

    If you have cancer, it’s understandable you might feel anxious about COVID-19. The Government and the NHS have both confirmed that cancer treatment should continue to be prioritised during the response to the COVID-19 emergency.

  31. Northamptonshire parents urged not to miss regular child health checks and life-saving vaccinations

    Advice and Information -

    Clinicians in Northamptonshire are urging parents not to let coronavirus fears stand in the way of bringing their children for regular vaccination appointments and GP health checks.

  32. Annual Report 2019-20 - Guided by you

    Report -

    During 2019-20 we undertook some exciting projects and continued to ensure that the views and needs of the people of Northamptonshire are considered, particularly as services and organisations are restructured.

  33. Enter and View - Hospitals

    Report -

    Healthwatch Northamptonshire volunteers Sheila White and Wendy Patel visit the wards and departments at Kettering General Hospital to carry out '15 Step Challenge' audits.

  34. NICE Care Guides

    Advice and Information -

    A list of NICE's social and intermediate care guides

  35. Transport and Car schemes

    Advice and Information -

    Find local volunteer and community transport schemes to get you to your appointment on time

  36. NHS hospital complaints

    Advice and Information -

    The care you receive in an NHS hospital is usually very good and most people don’t have any problems. But occasionally things can go wrong. This page tells you where to start when you want to sort out a problem with an NHS hospital.

  37. What can you expect when you’re discharged from hospital?

    Advice and Information -

    The usual processes the NHS follows to discharge you from hospital have changed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what you can expect when it’s time to leave hospital.

  38. 15 Steps Maternity 'Virtual Visit' report

    Report -

    Volunteers from Northamptonshire’s Maternity Voice Partnership and Healthwatch Northamptonshire conducted a virtual 15 Steps Visit of the labour and postnatal wards at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital on 30 June 2020.

  39. Restoring Breast Screening Services in the Midlands

    News -

    NHS Breast Screening services have been affected by a range of clinical and operational impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Local breast screening services took the decision to reschedule appointments and invitations for tests to a later date.

  40. Getting the most out of the virtual health and care experience

    Advice and Information -

    Working with National Voices, Traverse, and PPL, Healthwatch England put together some tips on how to get the most out of the virtual health and care appointments both for patients and health and care professionals.

  41. Northampton Borough and Corby Borough removed from the government watch list

    News -

    Northampton and Corby has now been removed from the Government watch list for Coronavirus this week

  42. Update your first aid kit with the new My Health and Care Directory smartphone app

    Blog -

    People across Northamptonshire can now benefit from quick and easy access to the latest information about local health and care services – thanks to the launch of a brand new smartphone app.

  43. 15 Steps Visits to Kettering General Hospital: Summary and Impact Report

    Report -

    Two of our volunteers visited wards and departments at Kettering General Hospital 43 times between April 2019 to March 2020 to provide the hospital with feedback using the 15 Steps Challenge tool. Their findings have been summarised into a report.

  44. Healthwatch Northamptonshire volunteers shortlisted for national award for their visits giving feedback to Kettering General Hospital

    News -

    Healthwatch Northamptonshire volunteers Sheila White and Wendy Patel have been shortlisted for a prestigious national award for undertaking 43 visits to 50 wards and departments at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) between April 2019 and March 2020.

  45. Sheila and Wendy win prestigious national award for Healthwatch Northamptonshire

    News -

    Two of our dedicated volunteers who made an amazing 43 trips to inspect 36 wards and departments in a year at Kettering General Hospital have won Healthwatch Northamptonshire a national award.

  46. Virtual Visiting and Covid arrangements at local hospitals

    Advice and Information -

    Innovative ‘virtual visiting’ live links at Kettering and Northampton General Hospital are supporting hundreds of local families who can’t visit their loved ones in hospital.

  47. NHS 111 First

    News -

    A new national programme called NHS 111 First, which encourages patients to contact NHS 111 before attending an Emergency Department (A&E) so they can be directed straight to the right service for their needs, is now live.

  48. The way health and care professionals in Northamptonshire use the information they hold about you is changing

    News -

    Local providers of health and social care have a duty to keep complete, accurate and up-to-date information about your care to ensure you can receive the best possible treatment and support.