Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic 2020: What did the people of Telford & Wrekin say?
We wanted to gather the views and experiences of local residents who have accessed Health and Social Care Services within Telford & Wrekin during the pandemic. To understand how people’s mental health and wellbeing has been affected.
Summary
We gathered feedback from local residents between May – June 2020, seeking their views and experiences during the pandemic.
The study revealed what people’s main challenges were during the lockdown period, with many people sharing with us that they had been affected emotionally and mentally due to not being able to go out and socialise with others. We also found out that the majority of people felt let down by the government and accessing services had been incredibly difficult.
Key Findings
- Suspending services has left many people without access to appointments or treatment. For those who have conditions/illnesses that require regular treatment, this has had a significant impact on their life. For others, whose appointments had been cancelled some have been offered alternatives such as telephone consultations. However, not everyone has access to digital technology
- Lockdown brought fear and anxiety for many which has had huge effects on people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health. The majority of respondents have struggled with self-isolation, experiencing the difficulties of being unable to see loved ones and friends
- Communicating with others and finding information about keeping themselves and others safe has been very important
- Certain groups feel the government have not considered them and their needs, this has applied in particularly to the elderly/vulnerable and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)
- Some services have not kept patients well informed about their introduction of new procedures, following the mass cancellation of face-to-face appointments/consultations
- Many people felt the government had not acted quickly enough and should have offered guidance and information earlier. Their response to the pandemic was slow and caused a knock-on effect for services such as the National Health Service (NHS) and created mass panic amongst the public
- Concerns were raised within educational settings, parents worried about exposing their children to the virus
- Many struggled to obtain necessities such as medical supplies and food shopping
- Accessing Dental services was challenging
To find out more, please see the full report.
Downloads
Access the full report
If you need this report in a different format, please get in touch:
info@healthwatchtelfordandwrekin.co.uk
01952 739540
