Dissatisfaction With Island Health And Social Care Services Continues To Climb

There are mounting concerns around the quality of care in Isle of Wight residential homes, a health watchdog has said.

In its Intelligence Report for February 13 to March 12, Healthwatch Isle of Wight also drew attention to a ‘lack of speciality consultants leading to delays in treatment’ and a ‘lack of access to NHS dentistry’ as key issues facing Islanders.

Its findings show dissatisfaction with Island health and social care services is continuing to climb.

Overall feedback gathered was 57 per cent negative (162 submissions), four per cent mixed or neutral (4) and 39 per cent positive (113).

The combined total of bad feedback has risen by five percentage points since Healthwatch’s January to February report, with positive responses falling by six points.

In relation to residential care, Healthwatch heard:

“People waiting too long when they want to go to the toilet, and then having accidents which are distressing for the client.

“Not enough activities and only the more able clients chosen for (these) and nothing for the less able.”

The most common topics, GP services and dentistry, received over 40 and over 20 negative pieces of feedback respectively.

One GP user told the watchdog:

“I didn’t feel heard or helped. A very scary experience resulted in a text to say to book a phone call appointment online, next one was three weeks away.

"(This left) me with the problem and no sense of how bad it is.”

Another resident spoke of being on the NHS dental waiting list for four years, not being able to afford private dental treatment.