Neurology is a hot topic for Healthwatch Shropshire

News from our partners Healthwatch Shropshire

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Neurological services / neurology in Shropshire are under serious pressure. The service provided by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) was closed to all new referrals at the end of March 2017 for six months due to staffing gaps. The local Clinical Commissioning Groups and SaTH have been working with out of county hospitals to provide alternative capacity during this period.

During September and October 2017 Healthwatch Shropshire is focusing its ‘hot topic’ on neurology and is seeking feedback from people to understand how these changes have affected patients and their experience of treatment. Neurology includes the treatment of a wide range of conditions including brain injury, Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone Disease, Epilepsy and Multiple Sclerosis.

Jane Randall-Smith, Chief Officer of Healthwatch Shropshire, said:

“The fragility of neurological services in Shropshire has been recognised recently and we would like to understand how this is affecting the patient experience including how people are getting to their appointments. Healthwatch Shropshire would like to hear positive and negative feedback which we can then feed into the discussion around the service provision so that we can ensure the patient voice is heard.”

People can let Healthwatch Shropshire know what they think about local services by phone 01743 237884, by email enquiries@healthwatchshropshire.co.uk or online www.healthwatchshropshire.co.uk. The more comments received the more influence Healthwatch Shropshire has to improve services for local people.

Healthwatch Shropshire is the independent consumer champion for health and social care in Shropshire. It gathers the views and experiences of patients, service users, carers, and the general public about services including hospitals, GPs, mental health services, community health services, pharmacists, opticians, residential care and children’s services.  It also has statutory powers that it can use to influence service provision by encouraging improvements.

Further information 

Healthwatch Shropshire is one of a network of 148 Local Healthwatch in England.  It is supported by a national organisation, Healthwatch England.

It has a team working in community engagement, plus a volunteer programme, a visit programme to health and social care premises, an advocacy service and an associate membership scheme to involve the public in its work.  It also has a signposting service to help people access health and social care services and support.