Welcome to your local healthwatch site.

Healthwatch England is an independent national champion for people who use health and social care services and we are here to find out what matters to people and help make sure their views shape the support they need.

We are your local Healthwatch, there is a Healthwatch in every area of England. Nationally and locally, here in Blackburn with Darwen, we have the power to make sure that those in charge of health and social care services hear people's voices.  People's views come first - especially those who find it hardest to be heard.

As well as seeking the public's views ourselves, we also encourage health and social care services to involve people in decisions that affect them and  how this could be improved, and we share these views with those with the power to make change happen.

Healthwatch also help people find the information they need about health and social care services in their area.

Due to Covid-19 we have had to suspend our Enter and View visits for the safety of staff and residents. However, we know sharing experiences and being heard is perhaps more important now than ever before.  We realise that life for all those involved with care homes is very different from the norm and that everyone is facing and dealing with many challenges. We know that there are many fabulous examples of great service delivery under difficult conditions.

In order for staff, residents and their families to share their experiences we have put together three surveys to find out;

• How are managers and staff managing to continue to provide a quality service?
• What is different/the same for residents?
• What challenges are families facing?

 We have designed three separate surveys for managers and staff, one for residents and one for families/carers.  You can follow the links below to complete these, your feedback is anonymous.

• Familiy and friends of residents
• Residents
• All care home staff

The NHS COVID-19 app is part of a large scale coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and contact tracing programme called the NHS Test and Trace service in England and the NHS Wales Test, Trace, Protect service in Wales.

The app will be used, alongside traditional contact tracing, to help notify users if they have come into contact with someone who tests positive for coronavirus. The app allows people to report symptoms, order a coronavirus test, check in to venues by scanning a QR code and it helps the NHS trace individuals that have coronavirus.

The app will help the NHS understand if the virus is spreading in a particular area, and so local authorities can respond quickly to stop it spreading further and save lives. The app does this while protecting a user’s anonymity. Nobody, including the government, will know who or where a particular user is.