NHS patients in the North East and beyond are being asked about their experiences of A&E and urgent care services such as the NHS App as part of a new survey launched this week.
This comes amid continual pressure on urgent and emergency care services - with the latest NHS data showing thousands waited more than four hours for care in the North East in July. The new survey is aimed at those who have used urgent and emergency care services over the past four years, and especially in the past three months.
That may have been A&E, but the survey - being run by a health tech firm called PEP Health on behalf of NHS England - also covers how 999 calls are dealt with, the NHS 111 service, urgent treatment centres and the NHS App. The survey went live on August 25, and people will be able to fill this in for six weeks
Read more: Hundreds wait for hours in North East A&Es - after heatwave added to NHS pressure in July
Dr Mark Lomax from PEP Health said: "This is a really great opportunity for us to hear first-hand from patients about their experiences to help us gain a better understanding of how things have changed in the last four years. And, importantly, what can be done to improve it.
"We want to gain as much information and views from as many people as we can and as wide a range as possible in terms their interactions with the system. It’s a great chance for them to have their say so we can look at how we can make healthcare work better for local people and across the country."
The firm is working with the Eastern Academic Health Science Network, and organisations Patient Experience Library, market research firm Ethnic Opinions and consultants Traverse as part of the partnership with NHS England. Feedback on urgent and emergency care will also be collated from focus groups and social media - with a final report set to be published later this year.
If you've recently used these NHS services, find the survey here.
READ NEXT:
