HEALTHWATCH Worcestershire has held roadshows in Redditch and Bromsgrove over the last two weeks to raise awareness and talk to local people about health and social care services.

We will be in Kidderminster this week, and next week we move on to Worcester. We had a successful day at Salt Fest in Droitwich where we spoke to over 100 people about their experiences of using local health and social care services.

The experiences we have collected from young people and their families about health services have been submitted to the Care Quality Commission to support a review they are carrying out in Worcestershire. This is one of the many ways we make sure local people can hold services to account and improve them from a patient and carer point of view.

We attend a number of local groups to hear about people’s experiences of services, so if you attend a group and would like to know more about Healthwatch and share your experiences, please contact us. We also attend meetings held by commissioners and providers in the county to hear about what is happening in services and provide them with patient and carer feedback. Recently we have attended the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group Patient and Public Forum and a review meeting about the Care Market in Worcestershire.

Our Mental Health survey is still open, so if you have used services for support for mental health and wellbeing or if you care for someone who uses services please give us your feedback. The survey is at can be accessed on our website healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk or you can contact our office on the number or e-mail below to receive a paper copy.

If you would like further information or would like to share your experiences, please contact us at info@healthwatchworcestershire.co.uk or phone: 01386 550 264.

PETER PINFIELD Chairman Healthwatch