Issue - meetings

Mental Health - Healthwatch Warwickshire Survey

Meeting: 18/11/2020 - Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 4)

4 Mental Health - Healthwatch Warwickshire Survey pdf icon PDF 6 MB

The Committee will receive a presentation from Healthwatch Warwickshire on the findings from its survey of how Covid-19 has affected the health and wellbeing of people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report and presentation from Chris Bain, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Warwickshire (HWW) on the findings from its survey of how Covid-19 had affected the health and wellbeing of people in Coventry and Warwickshire.

 

The presentation included slides on:

  • The survey questions:
    • How had local people accessed information during the pandemic and was that information given in a way that they understood?
    • What changes had been made to NHS, adult social care services, or the support needed or received during the pandemic?
    • How the pandemic had impacted peoples’ mental health and wellbeing, what services had been affected and the impact on the person receiving support?
  • 1117 people had responded to the survey, with data on the location and ethnicity of respondents.
  • Findings:
    • Information to stay safe and well – people had found it easy to access information but difficult to keep up to date. The types of information people needed clarity on were reported
    • Additional communication needs, with ‘easy to read’ information being a common area
    • Changes to healthcare – 401 people had experienced changes to their healthcare
    • Experiences of healthcare for Covid-19 symptoms
    • Themes in what we are hearing – maternity and dentistry examples
    • Changes to social care
    • Mental health and wellbeing – the key area with 839 respondents, many saying there had been an impact on their mental wellbeing
  • Next steps showing work undertaken already and that planned

 

The Committee was invited to submit questions and responses were provided as indicated:

  • The Chair asked if the survey had identified anything that WCC needed to address. Chris Bain spoke of the feedback around loneliness and isolation, people feeling forgotten and how to engage with them, perhaps through the third sector. The restriction on care home visits impacted on residents causing anxiety, especially those with dementia, but also for their relatives too.
  • The points about anxiety were echoed by several members. One referred to a telephone support group she assisted with and the change in feedback on the wellbeing of those being contacted. There had been an impact for younger single people who were working at home, especially those living in rural areas, due to the lack of social contact.
  • Chris Bain endorsed this as 60% of the survey respondents were of working age and had made this point, sharing concerns for their own wellbeing and also the impacts on their families.
  • There was a mental health impact for relatives of not being able to visit people in care. Where they were coming to the end of their life (EoL), it was questioned whether family members could have a Covid test to be able to visit them. An example from the survey feedback showed the mental health impact for family members where Covid restrictions prevented them from being present when a loved one passed away.
  • A question on survey feedback for people aged under 25 and especially access to the Rise service. Endeavours had been made to get feedback from this cohort, but nothing had been received.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4