News and reports

A new NHS centre to investigate the effects of race and ethnicity on people’s health has got the go ahead after Covid 19 helped to focus minds on the continuing problem of racism in medicine.

Lu, who suffers from chronic condition fibromyalgia, tells us how her family were her lifeline when she suffered a distressing fall and how she struggled to get help for severe shoulder pain.

First Do No Harm is a report published last week of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. Read more to learn more about the report, why it was commissioned and its findings.

Read our review on Elgar House, Southmead Hospital, where we observed the facilities and spoke to patients on the ward. We found delays in sorting patients' care at home leading to prolonged stays.

Read all about how we expanded our geographical area, our staff team and developed new work areas to ensure we continue to make an impact on health and social care services near you.

Two new nominations in our Share Your Care campaign are for Mark and Margreth, who have selflessly been at the side of people that needed them during this pandemic. Well done to both of you.

Large scale research and data collection is needed to tackle “humbling inequalities" in Covid-19 death rates, according to the new Public Health England report. We want our feedback to build an understanding of health experiences of BAME groups.

Police are warning of a new scam where callers pose as NHS Track and Trace advisors who ask the householder to pay £500 to be tested or face a “penalty.”

We are celebrating Volunteers' Week June 1st to 7th by saying a big thank you to our 30 volunteers and 7 trustees who help us at Healthwatch Bristol, North Somerset and South Glos.

We are marking Mental Health Awareness Week by looking at the barriers faced by the deaf community making them twice as likely to develop a mental health condition. Healthwatch is supporting work to help tackle the added difficulties of Covid-19.

We are raising awareness of the difficulties people face getting a diagnosis for Crohn's and Colitis for World IBD Day. TV presenter Rylan Clark talks about the stigma stopping people getting help.

Mental Health Week May 18th – 24th is about kindness and we at Healthwatch want to focus on the phone friends, from Age UK South Glos, who are chatting to older people to help them through this pandemic.