Agenda item

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.

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. It was considered this would be a useful area for further focussed research. Levels of awareness of the Rise service may be a related issue.
• The portfolio holder shared the concerns raised about access for relatives to care homes and there were ongoing discussions with officers to find a solution, so that Warwickshire continued to provide compassionate care. Lateral flow testing (LFT) may provide a solution and there were adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The government and WCC had provided iPads to some care homes as a means of communication between residents and their families. He spoke about EoL care specifically and the importance of companionship, also referring to the frequent guidance issued to care homes and he urged member feedback to himself. Nigel Minns referred to a national pilot scheme in care homes with testing to enable visits for a single named person. EoL care was an exception to the current restrictions and care homes could operate differently. WCC informed care homes regularly on this aspect.
• It would be useful to compare feedback from this lockdown against the first, to assess how the time of year influenced people’s mental health. The survey feedback included sentiment analysis to assess the feelings of respondents, enabling such comparison. Chris Bain expected that a further survey would be undertaken, but its timing was key to include the impact of winter pressures. It did seem from recent responses that more younger adults were making contact, with anxieties around quality of life, mental health and not being able to see a conclusion to the pandemic.
• The survey had provided clear messages on anxiety and depression, which could be worsened by the time of year. From a clinical perspective, these were considered to be lower level mental health challenges but could escalate to more serious issues. A key role for the council was around communication and support to those front line Covid groups to assist with community capacity on a cross-cutting basis. It could be an area for scrutiny to assess how this was working in practice. HWW intended to continue gathering evidence to build on the baseline it had established.
• Some existing mental health patients were not coping well with the way that services were having to be delivered. It would be useful to hear from the C&W Partnership Trust on how they were adapting services to ensure patients’ conditions were not worsening. There were new cases from people not responding well to the lockdowns. A need to galvanise the third sector services and early help offer. It was not clear if those responding badly to lockdowns would suffer longer-term mental health issues and require ongoing support.
• An aspect worthy of exploration was the impact for carers both in supporting people and the strains they were facing themselves. There was evidence both from the survey and anecdotal member feedback, but the scale of this issue was unknown.
• Many people receiving domiciliary care lived alone, were missing contact with their families and some were not able to use technology. A suggestion about provision of PPE so family members could visit them. A further point on those anxious about people visiting their homes.
• There may be hidden issues, which could extend to safeguarding or domestic abuse.  
• Councillor Caborn offered to pick up the points on support for carers with officers. He also offered to circulate the latest guidance issued to care providers for the committee’s information.
• Becky Hale offered to share information on the work being undertaken with informal carers. She publicised carers rights day which would take place on 26 November. Also, reference to the links between alcohol and mental health as this was alcohol awareness week.
• Contributions were made via the meeting chat supporting the points raised above, praising the document, additional evidence of anxiety, depression and concerns about safeguarding or domestic abuse issues.

The Chair thanked Chris and Healthwatch for the survey and its findings, which had provided useful information and areas for further consideration.

Resolved

That the Committee notes the presentation from Healthwatch Warwickshire.