News and reports

Throughout November 2025, Healthwatch teams across the North East and North Cumbria worked together to understand how well people know about the new services available at their local pharmacy.

Healthwatch teams across the North East and North Cumbria began a coordinated awareness campaign in October 2025 to support the rollout of the Primary Care Access Recovery Programme (PCARP). This initiative, funded by the ICB, aims to improve public understanding and use of key NHS services that offer faster, more convenient access to care.

Healthwatch teams across the North East and North Cumbria began coordinated engagement in early January 2026 to support the ICB’s work on developing a new End of Life and Palliative Care Strategy. The project aims to gather public insight into people’s views, experiences and expectations around end of life care, including those with no direct experience to inform a comprehensive regional needs assessment.

Hospital discharge was identified as a key quality priority for the Trust in 2025/2026. In response, we were invited to lead a collaborative engagement initiative focused on improving discharge processes and patient outcomes.

As part of our 2025/2026 priorities, we carried out a series of engagement activities between April and June 2025 with 11 care homes across South Tees.

In 2025 we held Health and Wellbeing Events across four key locations: Thorntree, Redcar, Hemlington, and Grangetown.

I visited Prospect Surgery today to present three well‑deserved Spotlight Awards, following nominations from Practice Manager, Jayne Henderson.

Janette Osborne has been a dedicated member of the practice since 2004, serving as our highly skilled Health Care Assistant. For over 20 years, she has devoted herself to delivering exceptional patient care.

Since joining the practice in 2018, Carla Stone has progressed from receptionist to administrator, secretary, and now Reception Supervisor. Throughout her journey, Carla has transformed the way our administrative and reception teams work by introducing improved communication and tracking systems that ensure nothing is missed and everything runs efficiently.

Since joining the team in 2021, Michaela Dowdall has made a remarkable impact across the practice. Alongside her reception and admin duties, she has taken on the roles of prescribing clerk and safeguarding admin lead, bringing energy, organisation, and innovation to each.

Together Connect is a collaborative network of organisations and individuals, developed from our Community Champions initiative. Its purpose is to work smarter, connect services, and create better outcomes for local people.

We are delighted to announce Michelle Calvert as our latest Spotlight Award winner — a recognition that celebrates individuals whose dedication, resilience, and passion make an extraordinary difference within their communities. Michelle’s contribution to the Deaf community across South Tees and the wider region embodies everything this award stands for.