Healthwatch East Sussex Annual Report 2024-25: Unlocking the power of people-driven care
We’ve engaged with a diverse range of individuals and communities living in different areas of East Sussex over the last year and shared what you’ve told us with health and care commissioners and providers to support them in making care better for you.
We wish to thank the more than 3,000 people in East Sussex who’ve taken the time to tell us their story.
Activity and Achievements
During 2024-25 we:
- undertook Enter and View activities at care homes to capture people’s experiences of oral health provision and hospital discharge via the ‘discharge to assess’ pathway
- directly supported 566 people with enquiries through our Information & Signposting service, including users of food banks, migrants and residents in Lewes Prison
- undertook our Listening Tour in Wealden, Lewes and the Havens and Hastings to gather experiences and views from local people and shared these to influence local services
- published 35 reports detailing insight and recommendations that were shared with decision-makers to inform health and care service development on themes including cost-of-living, hospital discharge, vaccinations, pharmacy and e-consult
- shared advice, guidance and information via our website, social media and bulletins to raise awareness of health and care issues
- drew on 86 days of Healthwatch volunteer time in the development and delivery of projects and activities such as Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE)
- progressed our Young Healthwatch, recruiting new volunteers, and finalising an accreditation to rate GPs for their suitability for use for by children and young people
- shared our insight and key messages through a diverse range of local, regional and national partnerships and boards, including the East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board and Sussex Health and Care Assembly
- raised awareness of challenges people face in accessing primary care, especially GPs and NHS dentistry, as well as acute and community services, including mental health
Comment from our Chief Executive, Veronica Kirwan
“Throughout 2024-25, we’ve continued to maximise what we hear from local people, evolving our face-to-face activities through changes to our Listening Tour, and adapting our digital approach by introducing regular polls to gather insight on ‘hot topics’.
These initiatives, alongside our core Enter and View activities and Information & Signposting service, have continued to allow us to ensure people’s experiences of health and care are robustly captured and effectively shared with those commissioning or delivering services.
As health and care services continue to evolve and change over the next 12 months, we’ll continue to highlight the importance of people’s feedback and patient’s experiences when making decisions about their future.
We want to thank everyone who has shared their views and experiences with us over the last year, and we’ll continue to work hard in delivering our role as the independent patient champion in 2025-26.”
Priorities for 2025-26
Our comprehensive and exciting programme of work for 2024-25 is already well underway, and is focused on delivering our four annual priorities:
- Listen and engage with people
- Understand the impact of pressures on health and care services
- Embed a focus on equality and diversity in our projects and increase the voice of seldom heard communities
- Explore the effects of social determinants on health and wellbeing
Who we share our report with
Our Healthwatch annual report has been submitted to Healthwatch England, alongside reports from all local Healthwatch in England. We also share our report with East Sussex County Council as the commissioners of the local Healthwatch service, and with a wide range of our statutory and voluntary sector partners across East Sussex.
Electronic copies of the report are available via the link below, and hard copies are available on request.
For media enquiries about Healthwatch East Sussex, please contact Veronica Kirwan, Chief Executive, on 07794 100 291 or via veronica.kirwan@escv.org.uk
