1. We take your views to Parliament

    News -

    Last week, we travelled to London to join forces with more than 100 fellow local Healthwatch organisations at our annual parliamentary reception.

  2. Jane’s Story: Booking a smear test

    Blog -

    Five million women are invited for a smear test, but 1 in 4 women don't attend their smear test. Why is that? We assume it is because people are worried about the procedure. Could it be in part because people are struggling to get an appointment?

  3. What did people from Folkestone tell us?

    Report -

    Last month we visited Folkestone & Hythe District Council to talk to their staff about their experiences of local health & social care services. We met 230 people in total during our visit.

  4. Spotlight on GP services

    Report -

    Since April 2017 we have heard from 365 people about their experience of GP services in Kent.

    Although we hear lots of positive stories, we've heard 394 negative comments.

  5. Your vote determines our priorities

    News -

    All this week we are asking people to get involved in our campaign #YourChoiceOurPriority where we give you the power to choose our priorities for the year.
    Over the 7 days we will be asking you to vote for what you think we should prioritise.

  6. Spotlight on Gypsy & Traveller communities

    Report -

    Kent has one of the highest populations of Travellers in the UK.

    At Healthwatch Kent we regularly visit Traveller sites to hear directly from the community about the issues they face about health and social care services.

  7. Spotlight on Learning Disabilities

    Report -

    In the second of a new series of reports, we have highlighted the feedback we’ve heard from people with learning disabilities.

    Everything we have heard from people is included in the report.

  8. Have you struggled to get a GP appointment? Tell us about it!

    News -

    In the news this weekend, we've heard new figures showing that many people struggle to get an appointment with their GP.

  9. Help shape Urgent Treatment Centres in North Kent

    News -

    Plans are being developed for Urgent Treatment Centres across the UK. The Centres would treat all minor illnesses and injuries for all age groups in one place.

  10. What should happen when GP surgeries close or merge?

    Report -

    Healthwatches across the South East have heard from people who are concerned about their GP surgery either closing or merging.

  11. You have chosen our priorities and we have listened

    News -

    Over 7,800 saw our vote and hundreds of you voted, so thank you!

  12. Commissioners respond to our GP report

    News -

    In March we published a report detailing all the feedback we had heard from Kent residents about GP services.

  13. Urgent care in Dartford, Gravesham & Swanley is going to change. Get involved

    News -

    A formal public consultation has been launched this month to decide the location of a new Urgent Treatment Centre in Dartford, Gravesham & Swanley area.

  14. 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.

  15. Working with PPG groups

    News -

    This week, we took part in a conference to bring together all the Patient Participation Groups across Kent.

  16. M20 closures!.... There’s no stopping us

    News -

    There was no chance our Helpline team weren't getting to the busy Boughton Monchelsea’s village Community Coffee Morning last Saturday.

  17. State of the Nation by the Care Quality Commission

    News -

    Today the Care Quality Commission have published their State of the Nation report which is their annual assessment of health and social care services across the country.

  18. Have you heard that the Clinical Commissioning Groups are going to merge?

    News -

    Currently in Kent & Medway, we have eight Clinical Commissioning Groups who are responsible for commissioning our health services.
    From April 1st 2020, GPs have voted for all the CCGs to merge into one single Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

  19. Feedback from people with Asthma

    News -

    Today we chatted with people about what it is like to have Asthma and how things could be improved

  20. Talking about End of Life services

    News -

    We recently had the opportunity to chat with a group of Carers about End of Life services in North Kent.