People call for more flexible hours in NHS services
It's clear from the views of local people that getting access to services remains a high priority for everyone. People want support available 24/7 and not just during working hours.
How many people spoke up?
Over 950 people from Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes shared their views with their local Healthwatch on how extra funding could be used to improve support from NHS services.
What changes to people want to see?
People believe there should be better access to health and community services, with flexible support available around the clock, to allow working people to get the support they need.
Being unable to book an appointment with a GP in good time was a recurring theme that local people raised. Working people said that they could struggle to access care and support and wanted more flexibility in the times that services are available.
Learning from people's experiences
The work from Healthwatch around the country has shown how important it is to listen to the changes people want to make a real difference to how services work.
Michael, who has severe Multiple Sclerosis, has had 23 separate hospital appointments in the last 12 months. While the care he received was good, the number of appointments could have been reduced if tests and scans were offered on the same day.
It would be nice to have one appointment rather than several appointments, so if I needed a scan, blood tests and a consultation I could have these all in the same day, rather than going backwards and forwards.
Read the full report
Read more about the changes that the residents of Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes would like to see made to their local NHS and the response.
