1. What should you expect when it comes to care for your teeth?

    Advice and Information -

    Four questions staff should ask you or a loved one about your oral health if you’re a care home resident, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quick guide.

  2. Tell us about your care - CQC announces partnership with The Silver Line

    News -

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is today marking the launch of a new partnership with The Silver Line helpline to help reach out to even more elderly people who are cared for in their homes and in residential care.

  3. Public meeting report - Personalisation

    Report -

    Personalisation is relatively new, is not fully understood and is of interest to the public. It is a social care approach in which every person who receives support, whether provided by statutory services or self-funded, has choice and control.

  4. Care Quality Commission on Oral Health in Care Homes

    Report -

    The CQC has complied a report with the aims of looking at some of the reasons why oral health is so poor in care homes and to understand some of the genuine challenges care staff face when trying to deliver mouth care.

  5. A practical guide to healthy ageing

    News -

    The NHS have teamed up with Age UK to write this practical guide to healthy ageing. The advice in this booklet will help improve the health and general fitness of people of any age, but is written to be particularly relevant for people 70 or over

  6. What are the signs of a good care home?

    News -

    Working with older people, their families and care experts, the charity Independent Age has developed a set of quality indicators which a local Healthwatch in Camden helped test during their visits to local care homes.

  7. St Brigas Residential Home

    News -

    St Brigas Residential Home for Adults with Learning Disabilities, in Jesmond Road, was visited by the health and social care watchdog last year, with the subsequent report this week judging the service to require improvement.

  8. Manor Park Care Home

    News -

    Family-run Manor Park Care Home in Ellenborough Park North has been recognised as a ‘butterfly care home’ by the Dementia Care Matters programme.

  9. Test and Trace - how can it be improved?

    News -

    Contact tracing is working well in the South West with an 83.3 per cent success rate compared to a national average of 77 per cent.

  10. Vaccine programme musn't 'breed complacency' says Boris during his visit to Bristol

    News -

    If you’re over 80 and still haven’t had your Covid-19 vaccine the message is – you’ll be contacted very soon. By the end of this week, every neighbourhood area in BNSSG will have a GP practice vaccination centre up and running.

  11. Risk of a "tsunami of unmet need" facing the health and care system, the Care Quality Commission reports

    News -

    In their annual 'State of Care' report - the first to cover a full year of the pandemic - the independent regulator has called for increased stability and collaboration across services, plus investment in 'new ways of working'.

  12. 'The barriers to accessing timely care can put people’s lives at risk' - Healthwatch England's response to the Care Quality Commission's 'State of Care' report

    News -

    The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. Their latest report sets out the challenges the NHS and social care sector face: 'the health and care system is gridlocked, unable to operate effectively.'

  13. How would you want to be supported by adult social care services?

    News -

    We're looking to hear from people who are not currently receiving support from adult social care services. We'd like you to tell us what you know about social care and how you would like to be supported if and when needed. Your views will help North Somerset Council plan their future services.

  14. Where can I go for support for my mental health as a parent?

    Advice and Information -

    We've pulled together a number of services for parents in need of support for their mental health. Read more to find out where you can go to get the help you need.

  15. Smoking during pregnancy - Action plan

    News -

    Our smoking in pregnancy action plan ‘accelerates’ the move to appoint new stop-smoking advisor

  16. Report on Maternity services in North Somerset

    Report -

    Healthwatch North Somerset collects information from the public about their experiences of local health and social care services. This information is shared with service providers, local commissioners and all other relevant bodies.

  17. The Care Forum - Action plan to reduce smoking in pregnancy

    Report -

    The Care Forum was commissioned to deliver an engagement project by the BNSSG Clinical Commissioning Group. The brief was to recruit and engage with women who did not stop smoking during pregnancy, in order to discuss why this was

  18. Health problems more common in babies with older fathers

    News -

    A study of more than 40 million births in the US found babies born to men aged 45 or older were more likely to be born prematurely, have a low birth weight and need intensive care after birth than babies with younger fathers.

  19. Study shows a gap between pregnancies is beneficial

    News -

    The NHS say that women should leave at least year between pregnancies

  20. Having a baby and the effect on your mental health

    News -

    We want to hear about your experiences - whether having a baby had any effect on your mental health.

  21. Temporary closure of Cossham Birth Cenre

    News -

    Cossham Birth Centre temporary closure – letter from North Bristol Trust

  22. Discussion event on preventing cerebral palsy

    News -

    The Academic Health Science Network invite you to the following event: Wednesday 9th May 2018 from 11am - 2pm.

  23. Open letter shows progress in reopening health services ahead of winter

    News -

    An open letter outlining plans to get services back to their pre-pandemic levels but still ensure everyone’s safety has been released.

  24. "This is another scandal where it’s clear that lessons from past tragedies haven’t been learnt" - Healthwatch England's response to the Ockenden review

    News -

    Healthwatch England has responded to the Independent Review of Maternity Services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, led by Donna Ockenden. The review examined almost 1,600 clinical incidents and found repeated failures in care.

  25. Share your experience: maternal mental health

    News -

    Have you given birth since April 2020? Did you experience any mental health issues or emotional challenges such as low mood before getting pregnant? We'd like to hear your story and find out if you got the support you needed from the NHS.

  26. Six-week postnatal checks are failing many new mothers, Healthwatch England warns

    News -

    Many women are struggling to access the support they need for their mental health during and after pregnancy. Only 1 in 5 were satisfied with the time their GP spent talking to them about their mental health at their six-week postnatal check.

  27. Continuity of care is crucial to addressing perinatal mental health

    News -

    Research shows that continuity of care - receiving care from the same midwife or team of midwives - is best practice in maternity care. But we spoke to new mothers whose experiences show that services don’t always implement it.

  28. Stories from new mothers: accessing maternal mental health services

    Blog -

    Mental health issues are widespread and of significant concern to new parents, but many face substantial difficulties accessing mental health services. Mothers from across the local area told us about their experiences.

  29. Annual Report 2022/2023

    Report -

    Last year, 793 people shared their experiences of health and social care services with us. Our annual report sets out how your comments and concerns have had a real impact on local health and social care services.

  30. Stories from new mothers: the importance of good communication

    Blog -

    The commitment to personalised care has been a cornerstone of NHS policy on maternity care for many years. A crucial part of personalised care is good communication, listening and agreeing on actions together.

  31. Our statement following the conviction of Lucy Letby

    News -

    Lucy Letby was found guilty on the 21st August 2023 of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016, while working as a nurse. She was also convicted of trying to kill six other infants.

  32. CQC again rates maternity services at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust as good

    News -

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following an inspection of the maternity services at both Weston General Hospital and UHBW Bristol Main Site (St Michael’s Hospital), both run by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, in December.

  33. Report: Investigating local health inequalities using the Core20PLUS5 approach

    Report -

    102 people in Knowle West, Hartcliffe and Weston-super-Mare spoke to us about their experiences of health and social care. They shared the barriers and failures that prevented them from accessing local services, and what improvements are needed.