Reports

Healthwatch England’s latest findings show many people continue to struggle to access or afford NHS dental treatment.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Healthwatch have seen an increase in the number of people sharing their experience of trying to access NHS dental care. We have also seen the proportion of positive feedback about dentistry fall sharply.

In July 2020 Healthwatch Halton were approached by NHS Bridgewater Community NHS Trust to look at the possibility of carrying out a further patient engagement project on behalf of the Trust to look at patient satisfaction levels with Children’s Specialist Services from Woodview Child Development Centre.

As the pandemic and lockdowns during 2020 had halted ‘normal’ service from the centre the decision was taken to focus the survey on families who had received appointments just prior to lockdown in February 2020.

This report is based on the responses of 157 people to an online survey we carried out earlier during February and March this year.
The survey asked participants their thoughts about getting the Covid-19 vaccine and their thoughts about the information provided about the vaccine.

During December 2020 and January 2021, a group of Healthwatch volunteers went online and visited all 14 local GP practice websites. As well as looking at the accessibility of the websites, their aim was to look for information that a patient might need without having to call or visit the practice.