Digital & Telephone Appointments Survey
Healthwatch Wandsworth have heard from over 100 people but want to hear from many more people who haven’t yet shared their experiences of video or telephone appointments.
Healthwatch Wandsworth are the independent health and social care champion for people in Wandsworth, run by Wandsworth Care Alliance, and they want to hear more experiences of accessing healthcare since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
To continue to protect people since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, GP practices and other health and care services now offer more appointments that do not need you to visit them in person. This includes email contact, apps, telephone and video appointments.
Many people have already completed the online survey and Healthwatch Wandsworth have supported elders, people with learning disabilities and people with autism to speak to them about the topic over the telephone. Healthwatch Wandsworth have been working with NHS Wandsworth CCG to ensure that people running services are aware of any benefits and challenges people have spoken about and that people’s experiences influence how services develop and improve.
What Healthwatch Wandsworth have heard so far
There has been much positive feedback about the convenience of not having to visit a service, but some people experienced challenges co-ordinating appointments and prescriptions, and some people had additional challenges to attend an appointment and describe issues over the phone. About 4 in 5 people reported not having had a choice about the type of appointment they had, including some who would have preferred a video appointment to a telephone appointment.
There is still also a concern about widening health if people face different challenges in accessing online or telephone appointments.
Help Healthwatch Wandsworth to hear more about how health and care services are working online and on the phone
- Complete our online survey or encourage people you know to take part.
- If you work with a community group and think they would like to discuss the topic with us, please get in touch.
- If you’d like to talk through your experience over the phone, please call us to arrange a time to talk.
We want to hear from as many people as possible. We would especially like to hear more about experiences when people have had digital or online appointments. We will be focusing on trying to gain more insight from people who do not speak English as a first language, people who need support with mental health and others who may find accessing appointments challenging.”
Healthwatch Wandsworth listens to local peoples’ experiences of all publicly funded health and social care. They run events, provide newsletter updates, and attend community groups regularly. If you are looking for a service, or haven’t been happy with a recent service, you can contact Healthwatch Wandsworth for information about how to get the help that you need. To keep up-to-date and hear about how you can be involved in their work you can sign up to be a member and receive a regular newsletter.
Get in touch:
Call: 020 8516 7767 between 10am – 4pm Monday to Friday.
Email: enquiries@healthwatchwandsworth.co.uk
Post: Healthwatch Wandsworth, 3rd Floor Trident Business Centre, 89 Bickersteth Road, Tooting, SW17 9SH.
Online survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HWWappointmentspr/
