News and reports

With NHS staff holding industrial action this winter, common questions and answers.

Which workers have backed industrial action?
Up to 100,000 nurse members of the RCN;
Up to 20,000 ambulance members of GMB, Unison and Unite;
4,000-plus members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy; and
Junior hospital doctor members of the British Medical Association are also being balloted in January.

When will strike action take place?
6 and 20 March: Ambulance strike by GMB at same 7 trusts as in February.

To observe, and capture the experiences of service delivery from the residents' and relatives’ points of view.

This useful information flyer that identifies support, information or advice.

Please note the directory was published prior to COVID-19. Some contact details may have changed.

A great graphical and informative presentation. Well done Baljot Kaur, great work.

With the NHS under extra pressure this winter, we need to hear your experiences of care to help services understand what is working and spot issues affecting support for you and your loved ones.

The NHS is facing added pressures this winter. This means that it can be more challenging for people to receive the care they need.
Feedback from the public can play a vital role in helping health and social care services understand what is working and spot issues affecting the care of local people.
This is why we have launched a campaign to get more people to share their experiences of care this winter.
If you or a loved one have used GPs, hospitals, pharmacies, care homes or other support services this winter, we want to hear about your experience.
Every experience matters
Have you faced challenges or delays accessing health and care services this winter? If you have, we want to know how this has affected your health and wellbeing.

Have you found accessing NHS services easy? Are there any aspects of the care you got that you really valued?
Your positive or negative feedback can help services hear what is working and spot issues affecting care for you and your loved ones.

People are doing everything that they can to manage the cost of living crisis. People have cut back on their food shops, turned their heating off to sit in the cold and have even started to work from home to reduce the amount of money that they are spending on their petrol each week.

However, constantly having to battle against things that are out of your control is always going to take a toll on your mental health, and suffering from mental health issues at this time won’t be making things any easier.

Unfortunately, over 1.5 million people across England are currently suffering from debt and mental health issues due to the cost of living [1]. We are actually already seeing the outcomes of this, with a recent study carried out from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy discovering that 66% of all current working therapists have said that their client’s mental health has started to decline with the current cost of living [2].

As we all know, a decline in public mental health has consequences that affect the rest of society, with more people abusing alcohol and other substances when they feel depressed or anxious. [3]

The infographic/ PDF to download highlights some additional facts and figures surrounding the cost of living crisis and how this links to poor mental health.

References [1] https://www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/money-and-mental-health-facts/ [2] https://www.bacp.co.uk/news/news-from-bacp/2022/8-september-cost-of-living-crisis-survey-shows-impact-on-mental-health/ [3] See alcoholism rehabilitation article.

Your monthly catch-up on health and social care experiences, topics, and themes, and useful information.

Shape the NHS forward plan
We want everyone in the Black Country to have improved health, now and in the future. We're writing a NHS Joint Forward Plan with local healthcare partners to set out how we'll work together to meet your health needs, and you can help too.

Full of updates, information and messages from our partners.

From all the team at Healthwatch Walsall

There are a number of things you can do to help including getting your winter vaccinations and using the NHS 111 service first for any urgent medical need. The below links take you to the relevant advice and information to support you during the winter.