Healthwatch East Sussex publish their 2024/25 annual report

Unlocking the power of people-driven care

Healthwatch East Sussex have published their 2024-25 Annual Report ‘The value of listening’.

It highlights how Healthwatch East Sussex have listened to the voices of the public, patients and partners and used people’s feedback, experiences and preferences to help shape health and social care in East Sussex, and across Sussex.

Healthwatch have engaged with a diverse range of individuals and communities living in different areas of East Sussex over the last year and shared what you’ve told us with health and care commissioners and providers to support them in making care better for you. 

Read the Healthwatch annual report here 

Activity and Achievements

During 2024-25 Healthwatch East Sussex:

• undertook Enter and View activities at care homes to capture people’s experiences of oral health provision and hospital discharge via the ‘discharge to assess’ pathway  
• directly supported 566 people with enquiries through their Information & Signposting service, including users of food banks, migrants and residents in Lewes Prison 
• undertook their Listening Tour in Wealden, Lewes and the Havens and Hastings to gather experiences and views from local people and shared these to influence local services  
• published 35 reports detailing insight and recommendations that were shared with decision-makers to inform health and care service development on themes including cost-of-living, hospital discharge, vaccinations, pharmacy and e-consult 
• shared advice, guidance and information via our website, social media and bulletins to raise awareness of health and care issues 
• drew on 86 days of Healthwatch volunteer time in the development and delivery of projects and activities such as Patient Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) 
• progressed Young Healthwatch, recruiting new volunteers, and finalising an accreditation to rate GPs for their suitability for use for by children and young people 
• shared our insight and key messages through a diverse range of local, regional and national partnerships and boards, including the East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board and Sussex Health and Care Assembly 
• raised awareness of challenges people face in accessing primary care, especially GPs and NHS dentistry, as well as acute and community services, including mental health 

Comment from Chief Executive, Veronica Kirwan

“Throughout 2024-25, we’ve continued to maximise what we hear from local people, evolving our face-to-face activities through changes to our Listening Tour, and adapting our digital approach by introducing regular polls to gather insight on ‘hot topics’.    

These initiatives, alongside our core Enter and View activities and Information & Signposting service, have continued to allow us to ensure people’s experiences of health and care are robustly captured and effectively shared with those commissioning or delivering services.

As health and care services continue to evolve and change over the next 12 months, we’ll continue to highlight the importance of people’s feedback and patient’s experiences when making decisions about their future.  

We want to thank everyone who has shared their views and experiences with us over the last year, and we’ll continue to work hard in delivering our role as the independent patient champion in 2025-26.”

Tell Healthwatch Your Experiences 

You can share your experiences of local health and care services with Healthwatch East Sussex via their Feedback Centre and let them know how this has been for you. 

They want to hear about your experience whether it has been good, bad or indifferent.

Help and support with Health and Care 

If you need help or support related to health or care, then please contact the Healthwatch East Sussex Information & Signposting Service via 

0333 101 4007 or enquiries@healthwatcheastsussex.co.uk