Business News

Health survey questions city residents

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:15:00 BST

City residents are being asked to complete a survey about how they access information and advice about health and social care services.  Everyone completing the survey will have the chance to win £50 of high street shopping vouchers in return for their participation.

The survey is part of Healthwatch, a new national consumer watchdog designed to give greater powers to service users. Healthwatch Portsmouth will champion the voice of patients, carers and communities who access health and social care in Portsmouth and the surrounding area

The University has developed the questionnaire which aims to find out where people go to find out about health and social care services such as doctors’ surgeries, hospital treatment, dentists, community care, social workers and residential care.  It will also help to inform the work of Healthwatch Portsmouth and ensure that it matches the needs and expectations of the community it will serve.

The survey is being reinforced through a series of focus groups and mystery shopping exercises. 

The project is a partnership between the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council and the charity, Learning Links.  The organisations have come together to look at the wider health and social care needs of the city.

A report produced by the Picker Institute in 2007 examined healthcare provision on a national scale and concluded that there is a lack of effective ‘signposting’ to information, concluding that  there is no shortage of information but people often struggle to find it.  It said:  “The service user is often left to dig it out for themselves, and may not know what they need to know.”

The results of the survey will be used to define what people need and inform the work of Healthwatch Portsmouth, which will start in April 2014. 

Tony Horne, Strategic Healthcare Projects Manager at the University of Portsmouth said:
“This work is vital.  Effective signposting to relevant information which meets the needs of the local population will improve the public experience of the healthcare system, help define realistic expectations and improve patient welfare.

The research will ensure that future services offered by Healthwatch Portsmouth are in tune with the needs of the local population.  And in the information era that we now live in, there is no better time to transform the internet into another tool for both the patient and health professionals.”

The survey is available online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/healthwatchresearch and will be available in hard copy format at learning links offices or from the Civic Offices in Guildhall Square.

The Healthwatch initiative is a statutory outcome of the Health and Social Care act 2012 introduced by the Government earlier this year.  Further information on the Healthwatch initiative is available from their website: http://portsmouthhealthwatch.blogspot.co.uk/