News and reports

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2023 runs from the 23rd - 29th January.

Did you know cervical cancer can be prevented? The tools are available to make cervical cancer a thing of the past. HPV vaccination, cervical screening, and treatment for cell changes can all help prevent it but we need to increase awareness and uptake.

Health chiefs in the North West have urged people to grab a ‘Jabuary’ boost to protect themselves from COVID-19 and flu amid continuing high infection rates and hospital admissions.
Hundreds of sites across the region, including general practices, pharmacies and hospital hubs, are continuing to offer first, second and autumn booster doses of the Covid vaccine throughout January.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust are recruiting for a Patient Safety Partner (PSP).

Patient Safety Partners will be actively involved in the continuing design of safer healthcare, for 8-10 hours per month.

The waiting list for routine NHS care has fallen for the first time since the pandemic began.

However, 7.19 million people are still waiting for hospital treatment, such as hip and knee replacements. This includes an estimated 1,423 people in England who have been waiting more than two years to start routine hospital treatment at the end of November.

We visited the Runcorn UTC twice, in November and December 2022, and spoke with 48 patients.

This report provides a snapshot of the experiences of those patients.

With the NHS under extra pressure this winter, we need to hear your experiences of care to help services understand what is working and spot issues affecting support for you and your loved ones. 

Access to an NHS Dentist in Halton is one of the main issues people contact us about. Read our report about the issues facing people looking to access NHS dental care and find out what changes Healthwatch would like to see.

Each year all NHS trusts and foundation trusts publish a Quality Account detailing information relating to quality, performance and improvements that have been undertaken during the preceding year.
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals (WHH) would now like to have your views on their Quality Priorities for 2023/2024.

Ambulance service staff from GMB and Unison trade unions will go on strike again on Wednesday, 11th January 2023, with Unison and Unite members taking further action on Monday, 23rd January 2023. This is a continuing dispute between trade unions and the government over pay.

Many of us drink too much without realising it. This could be having a big effect on us both now and in the future; heavy and regular drinking is linked to mental health problems, liver disease, seven forms of cancer and more. Is your drinking healthy?

The number of people avoiding an NHS appointment because they can’t afford travel almost doubled between October and December as the cost of living crisis is forcing many to change how they use health and care services.

This report highlights the public feedback received during our outreach session at Whiston Hospital on 5 December 2022.