York voICeS Meeting - Women's Health
Our next York voICeS meeting is due to take place on 29th March from 1-3pm in the Main Hall at the Priory Street Centre. This meeting will focus on women's health issues.
Everyone is welcome, but please book a place in advance through our booking form, link below.
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York Safeguarding Adults Board - working to keep people safe
York Safeguarding adults board website provides a wide range of useful information and resources for members of the public and professionals who may be concerned about adult abuse or neglect. You will find general information on keeping safe and how to report concerns. https://www.safeguardingadultsyork.org.uk/Working to safeguard adults – Safeguarding Adults York.
If you think someone you know is being abused or neglected, contact the City of York Safeguarding Adults Board by using this form: https://www.safeguardingadultsyork.org.uk/raise-concern
For professionals there is a dedicated area which provides access to a wide range of policy and practice guidance including the recently published Joint Multi-Agency Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures.
For more information, see the CYC website, link below.
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What we've been hearing
Healthwatch York is your way to influence local health and social care services – hospitals, GP surgeries, home care services and many others. Here are some key issues we are hearing about in York:
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Patient with mobility issues denied accessible dental care
We have heard about a patient with mobility issues who had been with the same dental practice for years, but when the practice carried out renovations, the consulting room for NHS patients was moved to the top of the building. As it is a listed building, there is no lift, and the practice would not allow her to be seen in a ground floor consulting room. She was told by the practice that she could no longer remain as an NHS patient. She subsequently developed oral cancer, and because of the lack of NHS dental care in York it was not spotted until it had developed considerably.
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Concerns raised about lack of palliative home care
We have had concerns raised over the lack of palliative care in the community. We heard that when a patient was diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to die at home, the family were provided with a hospital bed at home, but no follow up care or support. Only through personal links were the family able to get any help with end of life medicine. There was no morphine, no medical equipment, no assistance with continence issues, the whole situation was 'beyond undignified'.
If you have an experience you would like to share, please get in touch.
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Find out more about our work on Padlet
We have created a 'Padlet', a digital noticeboard, which contains links to our various workstreams, so you can see what we are working on, find out about meetings, take part in current surveys and access our feedback centre to tell about your experiences. Click on the individual links to read the reports and news articles. We invite you to follow and contribute!
Have a look at the Padlet via the link below.
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Health and Social Care News
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Women eligible for lower HRT prescription costs from 1 April
In a long-awaited move, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that HRT costs will be capped at around £20 a year through a new hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) being launched on 1 April.
This is good news in the cost-of-living crisis and could help cut health inequalities if it encourages more women to come forward who were previously put off from seeking help for symptoms due to the cost.
Many women currently pay two prescription charges (£18.70) a month, if they are prescribed both oestrogen and progesterone for their HRT regime. But with the HRT PPC, women will only pay an annual charge equivalent to the cost of two prescription charges – currently £18.70 (or a higher amount if prescription charges are increased from April - in 2022, prescription charges were frozen).
The DHSC have confirmed:
- Women will have to make a one-off annual payment for the HRT PPC
- The application process will open on 1 April, via the website of the NHS Business Services Authority, which issues PPCs, or in person at a pharmacy registered to sell PPCs
- For some women taking other regular medication, it may be better for them to apply for the existing 3-month or 12 month PPC and patient communications will include examples of “value for money” comparisons to help people decide which is best
- An indicative list of which type of HRT will be covered by the HRT PPC will be confirmed once it is launched.
For more information, see the Government press release on the GOV.UK website, link below.
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£25 million for women's health hub expansion
On International Women's Day the Government announced that new funding of £25 million will be allocated to create women's health hubs, as part of the Women's Health Strategy for England.
The hubs are intended to improve access and quality of care for services for menstrual problems, contraception, pelvic pain and menopause care, and will be tailored to meet local women's needs, and streamline access to health services. For example, by providing management of contraception and heavy bleeding in one visit, or integrating cervical screening with other aspects of women’s health care. At the moment, women often need to attend multiple appointments and go to different places to access these essential services.
As well as improving women’s experiences of healthcare, hubs are intended to create longer-term savings for the NHS through improving access to preventative care and reducing pressure on secondary care services.
For more information, see the Government website, link below.
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Elective care - the current situation
Recent research has highlighted that long delays for hospital treatment, last-minute cancellations, and a lack of personalised information and support were huge concerns for people.
Elective or ‘planned’ care refers to ‘non-urgent’ operations, appointments, or diagnostic tests for which people are referred to hospitals, including knee, hip or eye surgeries.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the waiting lists for elective care services were rising steadily, with more people joining the waiting list than were being treated, admitted or discharged.
But once the pandemic hit, the numbers on the list suddenly dropped, as appointments were cancelled or postponed. But once referrals restarted, the record for numbers on the elective care list was broken each month between October 2020 and November 2021.
As of December 2022, the NHS waiting list was at 7.20 million appointments. And instead of being seen within the statutory target of 18 weeks, 92% of people are now waiting up to 46.3 weeks.
Research by Healthwatch England has highlighted the impact long waits have on patients, particularly those facing health inequalities, and is now working with decision-makers to help address barriers and improve experiences.
This work has included supporting the development of the Elective Recovery Plan, encouraging regular and proactive communication with patients so that they don't feel forgotten, prioritising those impacted by long waits, including support with pain relief and mental ill health, and tackling the unequal access faced by some.
To read more, visit the Healthwatch England website, link below.
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Local Health and Social Care News
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First menopause care clinic to launch at Acomb Garth
A specialist menopause clinic has been launched by Nimbuscare, for any patient from one of Nimbuscare's 11 member GP practices.
The clinic will be run by specially trained GPs with a special interest in women’s health and overseen by a Consultant in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Community Gynaecology and has been a British Menopause Society (BMS) recognised menopause specialist.
The clinic will provide help for:
- Individuals with medical conditions that complicate or contraindicate use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Individuals using appropriate HRT who have bleeding problems, side effects, or refractory symptoms.
- Individuals whose menopausal symptoms are not controlled having tried at least two appropriate HRT preparations for an adequate duration.
- Individuals with premature ovarian insufficiency.
The clinics will take place at Acomb Garth Community Care Centre every Monday and Thursday from 9am until 1pm.
If you would like to access this service, please talk to your GP about it.
For more information, see the Nimbuscare website, link below. |
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New digital system to revolutionise maternity care
NHS Trusts across the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, including York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital, are rolling out a new digital system for expectant mums to register their pregnancy and access their care notes.
The new system, called BadgerNet, is a full electronic patient record, which supports clinical and administrative management of the woman’s whole maternity journey and replaces the current paper-based records.
BadgerNet will allow expectant parents to self-refer directly into the service via an online booking form where they will fill in their details, be assigned to a midwife and an appointment will be generated. This will remove the need for a GP appointment to be referred through to the service and ensure that they are seen by a midwife as soon as possible. Women who do not have digital access, will be able to telephone the service to self-refer for their pregnancy care.
For more information, please see Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership website, link below.
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Latest CQC Reports
We publish all the CQC reports for the month as they are released on our website. Follow the link on our homepage for the most recent reports.
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Have your say: Riverside path project takes next steps