Issue - meetings

37.1     The Board considered a report from Healthwatch East Sussex on the Rye Listening Tour that was undertaken in Rye and the surrounding area in September 2023. The report was introduced by Veronica Kirwan, Executive Director and Alexandra Hawkins, Communications Officer, who outlined the key findings and recommendations of the report.

37.2     Members of the Board thanked Healthwatch for a valuable and insightful report and commented that the richness of the report which is very helpful. The Board noted the post Covid experiences in accessing health services and the role that transport and the cost of living crisis is playing in accessing health services in more rural areas such as Camber and Icklesham. Jessica Britton, Executive Managing Director NHS Sussex commented that the cost of living issues mentioned in the report link to the financial inclusion work that is taking place and will be picked up by the Health and Care Partnership.

37.3     Mark Stainton, Director of Adult Social Care and Health commented that the ‘Enter and View’ work undertaken as part of the Listening Tour was really valuable, as well as the level of insight the report provides. He added that the three recommendations for East Sussex County Council (ESCC) that are included in the report have been shared with the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport where they relate to the Local Transport Plan and bus services.

37.4     Dr Stephen Pike, Deputy Medical Director NHS Sussex, outlined that there are national programmes to improve access to GP practices and more locally conversations are taking place with the Primary Care Network (PCN) Director to try and put in place some outreach services in the areas covered by the report. There is also a piece of work underway in the South East Region on GP websites to review website accessibility and the Healthwatch work will feed in well into this piece of work.

37.5     Members of the Board asked if there is anything more to report from the work Young Healthwatch undertook, and whether there are any recommendations around social isolation. Veronica Kirwan outlined that that Young Healthwatch will provide more feedback from their work. Alexandra Hawkins commented that one of the key outcomes was that more networking type events could help if people are socially isolated. There are a lot of village halls in the area with events and activities, so one of the key issues for people is how do they know what is on and where to go for help.

37.6     Councillor Kathy Ballard commented that it is very important to include access to healthcare in the Local Transport Plan (LTP) for the whole of East Sussex and supports the approach that includes access to healthcare in the LTP as it is a key issue across the county.

37.7     The Board RESOLVED to note the findings and recommendations in the report.