Seasons greetings and reflections on 2023

To everyone who has shared their experiences of care, given their valuable time to volunteer or acted on the feedback we’ve received in the past year, we would like to say thank you – your support and contributions enable us to be a champion for local people who use health and social care services.

Most of all, we want to convey our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to everyone working in hospitals, care homes, GP practices and the many other vital services. Their tireless efforts, often under difficult circumstances, keep us safe and well.

Challenges

Once again, it has been an extremely challenging year for health and care services and, inevitably, staff, patients, service users and their families, who have been affected by these pressures. Sadly, we face another winter where access to services will be impacted by growing waiting lists for hospital, dental, GP and community care treatments, coupled with a continuing cost of living crisis.

Listening

As a Healthwatch, our sole purpose is to make care better and amplify public voices, particularly those that are not currently being heard. We will continue to work with the NHS and North Yorkshire Council and other providers to make sure they listen to how you feel and learn from your experiences. Through this, we hope to make a positive difference to the planning and running of services, championing what works well and letting them know what needs improving.

Impact

We have also continued to provide thousands of people with helpful information and advice over the phone, email and through visits to our website and events. We have also reached and engaged with more people than ever through our social media channels.

Learn how we're making an impact