Healthwatch Leicestershire Winter Tour report paints a cold picture

The findings of Healthwatch Leicestershire’s ‘My Voice Counts’ Winter Tour, published today, show that people in the county would like more care and compassion from health and social care services.

The Tour, which engaged with over 600 members of the public at various events and venues, logged many complaints about a lack of care and respect towards patients from GPs, hospitals and carers.

People with mental illnesses told Healthwatch Leicestershire they would like medical staff to show more concern about their emotional welfare, and to be treated holistically for both physical and mental illnesses, as these were often related.

There were criticisms about patient privacy and customer service with some patients feeling uncomfortable, judged or ignored.

Following up from this comprehensive winter tour, Healthwatch Leicestershire is holding a series of Community Conversations in August and September throughout the county, talking to local people about their experiences and opinions of the services they receive.

Rick Moore, Chair of Healthwatch Leicestershire said of the organisation’s engagement work in the community:

“The ‘My Voice Counts’ Tour was a great way for us to gather the experiences of the general public, in addition to groups of people whose voices sometimes go unheard.

“As well as emphasising some of the problems we’ve come across in other reports, the Tour highlighted that being treated holistically and with genuine compassion and respect are hugely important factors to patients, that improve the overall perception of treatment and willingness to be treated.

We will bring all of these issues to our meetings with those responsible for commissioning and providing services and look forward to engaging with more local people at our ‘Community Conversations’ events this summer”.

Healthwatch Leicestershire will be at the Loughborough Mela this Sunday 16 August and its report ‘My Voice Counts: Winter Tour’  as well as other ‘Community Conversations’ dates are available below.