News and reports

Read or download a copy.

The former A & E department at Walsall Manor Hospital has been relocated and renamed the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, integrating both emergency care and the Urgent Treatment Centre in one place.

Last year Healthwatch Walsall was pleased to have been contacted by Walsall Manor Hospital Trust to invite two cohorts of service users from our sensory loss and disability groups to visit the new department during the latter stages of its construction. The purpose of this was for the Trust to hear firsthand the views of these groups with regards to the suitability of the facilities. Following on from this and six months after the opening of the new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, Healthwatch Walsall wanted to hear from patients directly to find out about how the new facilities and services were working for them.

Pop-up clinics have been set up in the Black Country to encourage eligible people to come forward for a spring COVID-19 vaccine.

Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), this spring’s eligible groups include:
• adults aged 75 years and over by June 30
• residents in care homes for older adults
• those aged six months and over who have a weakened immune system.
The pop-up clinics are being hosted at a range of locations across the Black Country, with no appointment necessary. Anyone aged 18 and over who is eligible for a spring vaccine is encouraged to come forward as soon as possible.

Walk in vaccines will be available at the following locations over the next few weeks:
Wolverhampton
• Bilston Market Pinfold Street, WV14 0DN, Monday 29 April, 8am-2pm
• Phoenix Park, Dudley Road, WV2 3J, Wednesday 8 May, 9am-3pm

Walsall
• Tesco, Silver Street, Brownhills, WS8 6DZ, Monday 29 April, 9am-3pm
• Morrisons, Middle Piece Way, Willenhall, WV13 1QG, Wednesday 1 May, 9am-3pm
• Walsall Town Centre, Lower Hall Lane, St Matthews Quarter, WS1 1PU, Saturday 4
May, 10am-4pm
• Aldridge Community Centre, Middlemore Lane, WS9 8AN, Tuesday 7th May,10am-2pm

Sandwell
• Tesco, 46 New Square, West Bromwich, B70 7PR
o Thursday 2 May, 9am-3pm
o Sunday 5 May, 10am-3pm
• Morrisons, 239 Holyhead Rd, Wednesbury, WS10 7BD, Tuesday 7th May, 9am-3pm

Dudley
• Dudley Market Place High Street, DY1 1PQ
o Friday 26 April, 9am-2pm
o Friday 3 May, 9am-2pm
• Mary Stevens Park, Heath Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 2AA, Saturday 27 April, 10am-2pm
• Tesco, Fox Oak Street, Cradley Heath, B64 5DF, Tuesday 30 April, 9am-3pm

The clinics will be running until the end of June. More dates and locations can be found on the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board’s (ICBs) website.

Sally Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS Black Country ICB, said: “Our pop-up clinics
are a great way for those eligible for a spring COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated at a time and
location that suits them, with no appointment necessary.

“Having the spring COVID-19 vaccine helps vulnerable people, including the elderly and
those with weakened immune systems, to maintain a high level of protection and helps prevent
them from becoming seriously ill or needing treatment in hospital.

“You don’t need to wait to be invited if you’re eligible, just come forward as soon as you can.”

In addition to the pop-up clinics, spring COVID-19 vaccinations are available at a number of community pharmacies and other vaccine sites across the Black Country. You can find your nearest site or book online via the National Booking System, or by calling 119.

For more information about the spring COVID-19 vaccine, visit the NHS website.

From 31 May 2024, patients will no longer be able to order repeat prescriptions using the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) telephone service. This service is currently available to patients registered at the following practices:
· Collingwood Practice
· Forrester Street Practice
· Harden Health Centre / Blakenall Practice
· Keys Family Practice
· Kingfisher Berkley Practice
· Modality Darlaston Practice
· New Invention Practice
· Pleck Medical Centre
· St John's Medical Centre.

Each GP practice will take over the responsibility for repeat prescriptions. Patients will be encouraged to use the NHS App, logging into their NHS account, requesting a repeat prescription from the GP practice website or contacting the GP practice for support with their repeat prescription request.

Please see the message shared with patients about the changes to the way they order repeat prescriptions shared via the practices on the ICB website. The webpage also includes frequently asked questions about the changes and support available.

Suicide Bereavement UK have developed a series of At Your Side guides for those bereaved by suicide in the Armed Forces community.

Three guides have been written by the bereaved for the bereaved:
At Your Side guide for veterans
At Your Side guide for families
At Your Side guide for serving personnel

Both the veteran and family guide will be launched on the 17th April 2024. The serving guide will be launched shortly afterwards.

Who produced the At Your Side guides?
The guides have been produced by Suicide Bereavement UK, an internationally recognised organisation specialising in suicide bereavement research and the development of evidence-informed support materials for bereaved people.

They were commissioned by NHS England and co-produced with individuals bereaved by suicide as well as experts in military mental health, suicide prevention and bereavement.

The guides are based on the experiences and needs of those who took part in the Armed Forces Suicide Bereavement Study. All were bereaved by suicide, having lost a friend, colleague, spouse, partner, adult child, parent or sibling during or after military service.

The guides are free to download.

Dedication

The guides are dedicated to those bereaved by suicide and to those they have lost in the Armed Forces community.

With cases of whooping cough increasing across the Black Country, pregnant women are being encouraged to come forward for a vaccination.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes. It spreads very easily and can sometimes cause serious problems, especially in babies and young children.

Mums-to-be are offered the vaccine between 16 and 32 weeks of pregnancy so their baby has protection against whooping cough from birth. The whooping cough vaccine is also routinely given as part of the 6-in-1 combination vaccine for babies at 8, 12 and 16 weeks.

If you are pregnant and have not been vaccinated, or if your child hasn’t yet had the 6-in-1 combination vaccine, please contact your GP surgery to book an appointment to get the protection from whooping cough as soon as possible. If you’re unsure if your child has had the vaccine, check your child’s red book (health record).

Sally Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “Anyone can catch whooping cough, but the infection can be very serious in young children and babies.

“Getting vaccinated while you’re pregnant is highly effective in protection your baby from developing whooping cough in the first few weeks of their life – ideally from 16 weeks up to 32 weeks of pregnancy. If for any reason you miss having the vaccine, you can still have it up until you go into labour.

“The immunity you get from the vaccine will pass to your baby through the placenta and provide protection for them until they are old enough to be routinely vaccinated against whooping cough at eight weeks old.
“Vaccination remains the very best protection for babies and children from becoming unwell with whooping cough. So, if you are pregnant and have not been vaccinated, or if your child hasn’t yet had the 6-in-1 combination vaccine, please come forward as soon as you can.”

For more information on the whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy, please visit the NHS website.

The 6-in-1 vaccine protects babies against six serious illnesses:
• diphtheria
• hepatitis B
• hib (Haemophilus influenza type b)
• polio
• tetanus
• whooping cough.

If your child has missed their 6-in-1 vaccinations, contact your GP surgery. It's best to have them on time, but children can still have the 6-in-1 vaccine up to the age of 10.

For more information about the 6-in-1 vaccine, please visit the NHS website.

Read or download a copy.
One download is a PDF and the other in Microsft Word format.

Our complaints process outlines how to make a complaint about us and our approach to making sure complaints are resolved.

As a consumer champion for the public, Healthwatch Walsall (HWW) regularly listens to experiences about unsatisfactory care and signposts to the most appropriate complaints handler.

Eligible people in the Black Country will be invited to come forward for spring COVID-19 vaccine from this week.

Following guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) the latest phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme has now started, with care home residents first in line to receive a spring vaccine dose.

The offer will then be opened up to the remaining eligible groups, including:
• adults aged 75 years and over (including those who turn 75 by 30 June 2024)
• those aged six months and over who have a weakened immune system.

People who are admitted to an older adult care home or become immunosuppressed by 30 June are also eligible. Those eligible for a spring vaccine will be contacted by the NHS by letter, text message or via
the NHS App. Appointments can be booked via the National Booking System, with first appointments available from Monday 22 April.

If you know you are eligible, you do not have to wait to be invited, you can book on National Booking System once it is open. Walk-in appointments are also available at selected locations and you can find your nearest site by visiting the NHS online walk-in finder.

Sally Roberts, Chief Nursing Officer for the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “Vaccination has been our most effective tool against COVID-19 and remains the best way to stay protected.

“Having the spring vaccine helps prevent vulnerable people from becoming seriously ill or needing treatment in hospital and over the coming weeks, everyone aged 75 and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and people with a weakened immune system will be offered a vaccination.

“So, if you’re in one of the eligible groups, please take the opportunity to top up your protection as soon as you can.”

For more information on the spring vaccine, please visit the NHS website.

NHS 111 triages people's medical needs to enable them to access the appropriate services or to provide advice on self-care where relevant. We want to know if this process is working for you and understand your experiences of using the service.

Here is what you said.

A brief outline of some of the issues and themes that patients have faced when accessing Walsall Services during March 2024.

Also, things that you can get involved with!