News and reports

The Healthwatch Halton office is closing today and will re-open on Tuesday 2 January 2024. Wishing you a happy Christmas.

The Patients Association and Roche Diagnostics UK are embarking on a new project that will give patients the chance to share their understanding and experience of diagnostics in the NHS - and have their say on how access to testing could be improved.
Diagnostics are tests or procedures that can be used to help healthcare professionals determine the condition or illness a person has and/or the type of treatment and care they need.

Halton SEND Parent Carers Forum (HSPCF) and Healthwatch Halton are working together on a project, looking at the eligibility for 14+ annual health checks in Halton.

Currently, to be eligible for a 14+ annual health check, is that you must have a learning disability. This means many individuals with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND), without having a learning disability are not entitled to a 14+ annual health check.

People across Cheshire and Merseyside are being urged to use NHS 111 for all non-emergency healthcare needs ahead of industrial action by junior doctors both ahead of Christmas and early in the New Year.

From 31 October 2023, GP surgeries must give patients online access to their new health record entries. Find out what information is in your record and how to access it.

The Specialised Respiratory Clinical Reference Group need a Patient and Public Voice (PPV) Partner to join their Specialised Respiratory Clinical Reference Group. NHS England is committed to ensuring that public and patient voices are at the centre of shaping healthcare services. Every level of the NHS commissioning system needs to be informed by insight from those who use and care about our services.

A new Healthwatch report, looking at health and social care from the patients' perspective, has warned that we risk "a two-tier health and care system" unless the NHS takes faster action to tackle access issues.

Warm Welcome Spaces are opening their doors to local communities, offering everyone a free, warm, welcoming and friendly space.
Venues in both Widnes and Runcorn have warm, welcoming spaces open to everyone.

Lydia Hughes has been appointed as the new Chair of Healthwatch Halton, the independent patient champion for people who use health and social care.

​​​​​​​A new report sets out NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s plan for improving access and making it easier and simpler for patients to access the care they need, and supporting GP practices to manage demand and capacity through a range of additional measures. In 2023/24 this will be supported by a total of £90 million investment in primary care general practice and related measures contained in the plan.

With more than thirty recognised symptoms of menopause and growing awareness of the impact on day-to-day life, it can help to know what to look out for and what support is available.

World AIDS Day is a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS, that takes place annual on the 1st December.
In the UK, more than 105,000 people are living with HIV. Globally, an estimated 38 million people live with the virus.