1. What is adult social care?

    Advice and Information -

    Do you or a loved one need help with social care? Read the article below and find out answers to key questions about who can access adult social care and how to pay for it.

  2. Home from Hospital

    Advice and Information -

    Home from Hospital is a free service. It provides practical and emotional support to older people returning home from hospital in Newcastle. Support is flexible and tailored to a person's individual needs.

  3. Future of home care services

    Report -

    This Elders Council of Newcastle report presents the findings of a December 2015 event where people discussed their expectations of home care services. The event was held in partnership with Newcastle City Council and Healthwatch Newcastle.

  4. Spotlight on home care

    Report -

    From October to December 2015 we asked service users, their carers and relatives, and also social workers, what they thought about home care services in Newcastle. We also interviewed the commissioners of home care services and met with several local voluntary and community sector organisations.

  5. Spotlight on home care

    Report -

    During late 2015 and early 2016 we carried out a large scale survey of service users, carers and relatives, and home care workers to gather their feedback on various aspects of home care services. Newcastle City Council took on board six of our ten recommendations when drawing up new care provider contracts.

  6. Spotlight on health at home

    Report -

    We estimate that around 2,600 people in Newcastle are housebound. During autumn 2018 we investigated how easy it was for housebound people to use GP practice, dentist, optician or pharmacy services in the city.

  7. What should you expect from home care services?

    Advice and Information -

    Five things you should expect from home care, domiciliary care or help in the home.

  8. Someone I love has died - where can I find support

    Advice and Information -

    Take a look at our advice article on the organisations and groups that can support you if you’re grieving.

  9. What to expect when waiting for care

    Advice and Information -

    Waiting for planned medical care or surgery can be a frustrating time. That’s why it’s so important that while you wait, you get regular, clear and accessible updates so that you can plan your next steps.

  10. What is Long Covid and what help is available?

    Advice and Information -

    Confused about Long Covid? Find out the common symptoms and how to get support.

  11. Plan B to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant

    Blog -

    The government has announced a Plan B for England to tackle the spread of the Omicron variant. What does that mean for us?

  12. COVID-19 update - 23 December 2021

    Blog -

    The discovery of the Omicron variant led the government to recently announce a new vaccination challenge. The Prime Minister set out a commitment that all adults in England would be offered a booster jab by the end of the year. However, even with the additional protection that vaccine boosters will give, the threat from Omicron remains serious.

  13. Confirmatory PCR tests temporarily suspended for positive lateral flow tests

    Blog -

    From 11 January 2022, people who receive positive lateral flow (LFD) results for COVID-19 will have to self-isolate immediately and won’t be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.

  14. If you have COVID-19 symptoms

    Advice and Information -

    If you have COVID-19 symptoms, you can take a PCR test by booking online at www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or calling 119 between 7am and 11pm and self-isolate until you get your results

  15. Recovering from COVID-19

    Advice and Information -

    Your COVID Recovery is an NHS website that helps you to understand the illnesses and what you might expect as part of your recovery.

  16. Understanding carers’ experiences during the pandemic

    Blog -

    We wanted to gain a greater understanding of carers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. We included a short evaluation for people who had used Newcastle Carers’ services.

  17. COVID-19: your experiences of health and social care - May

    Report -

    We launched a survey in May 2020 titled ‘COVID-19: your experiences of health and social care’. This is the report on the responses we received up to the end of May.

  18. COVID-19: your experiences of health and social care - June

    Report -

    This is the COVID report on the responses we received up to the end of June 2020.

  19. Healthwatch - COVID-19 survey results July 2020

    Report -

    This is the final COVID report on the responses we received up to the end of July 2020.

  20. Newcastle Outer West PCN patient survey

    Report -

    Six GP practices in Outer West Newcastle - Denton Park Medical Group, Denton Turret Medical Group, Newburn Surgery, Parkway Medical Group, Throckley Primary Care Centre and Westerhope Medical Group - partnered with Healthwatch Newcastle to run a survey gathering patients’ views on additional services, accessing the practices and how COVID-19 affected their experience.

  21. What people think about the COVID19 vaccine

    Report -

    In early 2021 Healthwatch England designed a survey to help local services and national policymakers understand how they can improve the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

    We used the survey to support local services to adapt and improve the delivery of the vaccination programme locally.

  22. Getting Vaxed: Understanding User Experiences of the COVID-19 Vaccination Process in Newcastle upon Tyne

    Report -

    Healthwatch Newcastle engaged with local people to understand their experiences booking and
    receiving all of their Coronavirus vaccination(s). The project was prompted by feedback from a
    small number of local residents who shared their experiences of the Coronavirus vaccination
    process. Read the full report here :-