News and reports

Throughout the pandemic, Mental Health in young people has been exacerbated due to minimal socialising with the lockdown, not attending education, and having to support relatives.

A copy of our public meeting/ minutes. Agenda plus 4 documents enc.

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) is a key commissioning tool for NHS England, Local
Authority and Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG). The PNA includes pharmaceutical services and
other services that may be delivered through community pharmacy. The PNA maps current provision,
assesses local need, and identifies any gaps in provision. It is reviewed every 3 years and Healthwatch
Walsall were pleased to be asked to have an integral role in the consultation process.

We undertook a survey with people who have used the UTC at Walsall Manor Hospital.

A copy of our public meeting/ minutes

Heart disease remains as one of the major causes of premature death in Walsall. There have
been several reports produced locally by Public Health Walsall that evidence this but there is
also other intelligence published by Public Health England e.g., CVD primary care intelligence
pack (2021). We understand that a range of factors heighten the risk of heart disease and
that generally premature deaths from this disease tend to be in the more deprived areas of
Walsall where risk factors that can cause heart disease are more prevalent. As background
data to support this report we have obtained some summary information from our local

Public Health department as well as undertaking a limited analysis of the CVD primary care
intelligence pack 2021 and this follows.

On this occasion, the Healthwatch have carried out a project that looks at the experiences of people who were more likely to be digitally excluded than the general population in accessing primary care during the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions. Unlike the HWE project we did not interview GP practice staff as at the time the project was being undertaken local GP practice staff were taken up with the rollout of the Covid vaccination programme and felt unable to take part.

A copy of our public meeting/ minutes

115,000 people a year die from lung disease in the UK, equivalent to 1 person every 5
minutes, and every day, 1500 people are newly diagnosed with lung disease. Moreover, the
health outcomes for people with lung disease have not improved over the last 10 years to the
same extent as other diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. The mortality rate
(the number of people per 100,000 dying) of people aged under 75 from respiratory disease
in Walsall is 48.1, which is significantly worse than the national rate of 34.2.

2
There were 5040 emergency hospital admissions for respiratory disease in 2018/19 in
Walsall. Hospital admissions due to respiratory conditions are a major factor in the winter
pressures faced by the NHS and lung disease costs the UK more than £11 billion per year
including the impact on the NHS (£9.9bn), and wider economy through working days lost
(£1.2bn).

Healthwatch Walsall Advisory Board (HAB) Meeting held on Friday 6 August 2021 02:15 p.m. Virtual online digital platform Zoom

Healthwatch continues to gather information locally, through various means, such as surveys, focus groups, one-to-one conversations and questionnaires.

Heart disease remains as one of the major causes of premature death in Walsall.