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This report is in partnership with the the Wyre and Rural Extended Neighbourhood Primary Care Network.

We held conversations with the local community around what was working well in terms of their own personal health and wellbeing, and where they felt improvements could be made to live healthy happy lives for both them and their families.

A word from WREN PCN4

‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patients and practice teams for supporting the recent engagement undertaken by Healthwatch Lancashire to inform WREN Primary Care Network what is important to you and what can help you live a healthy and happier life.

We would also like to thank the Healthwatch Lancashire team for their support in facilitating this engagement.’

This report details the findings of our project exploring to understand the experiences of family members and carers who support people with a neurological disorder. Engagement for the project took place between March and April 2024 with the support of local partner organisations. 

The feedback outlined in this report identified some of the barriers carers face and outlined a series of recommendations to which local commissioning bodies have provided their response. 

This report details the findings of our project exploring young people’s experiences of mental health and accessing mental health support in Lancashire. This project follows on from our initial project which was published in October 2023 where we explored the experiences of Lancashire residents who had experience of waiting for support from mental health services. 

Feedback uncovered a series of barriers to accessing support, which for many, resulted in a decline in their mental health and feeling unsure of where to go for support. 

Dare to Care is a pilot pathway with the aim of developing an integrated volunteer project in health and social care. At all stages, the goals of the project were to strengthen and support the workforce in care homes, which currently face challenges in recruitment and retention, and to provide more support to people in receipt of care. 

This report has been produced by Healthwatch Together, who have engaged with individuals, carers and professionals involved in a section 42 safeguarding enquiry, to understand their experiences and whether they felt involved, supported and valued.

Findings were evaluated considering the Making Safeguarding Personal principles.

Healthwatch Lancashire heard an increased amount of feedback about mental health during 2022/23. Particularly, the long waiting lists people were experiencing when accessing mental health support. In response, ‘Waiting for Wellness’ was set up to explore people’s experiences of mental health in Lancashire. There was a particular focus on the waiting times of those accessing mental health support and whether people were aware of available services in Lancashire.

Feedback was also gathered from people who have not accessed support for their mental health, to investigate their reasons for this and whether they would know how to access support should they need it in the future. 

In winter 2021, Healthwatch Together completed face to face engagements in Emergency Departments, Walk-in Centres and Urgent Treatment Centres to investigate patient experience and presentation. These findings were presented to Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership to assist them with emergency care winter planning. 

One year on, Healthwatch Together has revisited this project and further engaged with people in Emergency Departments, Walk-in Centres and Urgent Treatment Centres. Findings have been analysed to investigate whether the recommendations made in 2021 have been implemented and whether they have made an impact on patient experience and presentation. 

In response to the cost-of-living crisis, Healthwatch Lancashire set up an online survey to investigate the experiences of Lancashire residents. There was a particular focus on the effects of the crisis on physical and mental health.

A GP Enter and View project was undertaken to explore patient experiences of booking appointments and the care they receive. Staff feedback was also collected to explore what solutions that surgeries were employing to meet demand. 

An Enter and View project was undertaken focusing on Lancashire day services for adults with learning disabilities and other neurological disorders, in order to provide the experiences and views of those using day services funded by Lancashire County Council.