Healthwatch Wirral heard from 63 people about 39 services in September and October. GP appointments, NHS dentists and hospital letters were the main worries.
Getting a GP appointment and finding an NHS dentist were among the main worries Wirral people raised with Healthwatch Wirral in September and October. The independent patient watchdog heard from 63 people about 39 health and care services in those two months, and a further 181 people contacted it for information and advice (What Wirral Told Us: September to October 2026, Healthwatch Wirral).
Hospital care, GP services and dentistry were the services people talked about most. Communication, access to services and the way staff treated them were the strongest themes. The report, published on 6 November, also carries a lot of praise: people described “caring staff, prompt appointments and clear explanations”.
GP surgeries: helpful staff, hard to get in
Some people were asked to call back the following morning or went “through repeated rounds of triage”, Healthwatch says. One person was directed to a walk-in centre after several days of trying to arrange care. Others raised unclear text messages and no information when appointments were running late. One wrote: “Also waiting 50 minutes to be seen for a pre booked appointment […] no information given.”
The same surgeries drew warm comments. “Without exception the staff are always helpful and nothing is ever too much trouble,” one patient said. Some people needed Healthwatch’s help to get test results from their practice or to find out whether a medicine would be available.
NHS dentists: the website said yes, the practice said no
Finding NHS dental care “remained difficult”, the report says. One person found a practice listed on the NHS website as taking NHS patients, but the practice told them it had a large waiting list and offered private treatment instead. Their words: “Was not taken on as an NHS patient, despite NHS website listing it as accepting NHS patients.”
Patients who did get treatment were full of praise. “The dentist made the whole experience as comfortable as she could, and I was very pleased with the care that she took,” one said. Another was “very thankful to be fitted in so quickly” for an urgent appointment.
Healthwatch Wirral has put together a page on how to find an NHS dentist, where to get urgent dental care and how to find out about charges and help with costs.
Hospitals: quick scans, late letters
People praised quick scans, X-rays “within minutes” and clear explanations. “I felt like an individual, not just another patient,” one wrote.
Communication was the recurring complaint. One person received a letter for a scan that “was booked for 2 days before the letter arrived”. Another tried to ring a department “only to get through to a switch board which I found very confusing and eventually gave up”.
Feedback on urgent and emergency care described long waits, uncomfortable waiting areas and corridor waits for people with additional needs. One patient said: “I was made to wait from 3:00 pm until nearly midnight before being told that there was no cardiology doctor available and that I would need to wait until 10:00 am the following morning to be seen.” At the Urgent Treatment Centre, people said it was hard to hear patients being called. Hospital parking also came up again, with people unsure where the payment machines were and whether they would be charged under the new arrangements.
Mental health, wheelchairs and ADHD care
Beyond the big three, people described unclear mental health referral routes and gaps in support after leaving crisis or home treatment services; one felt “passed between services without a clear plan”. Others reported delays getting wheelchair parts and equipment repairs, equipment returned with the original fault unfixed, and slow occupational therapy assessments. Families raised difficulty keeping ADHD care, including medication, going when moving between private and NHS treatment. Pharmacy experiences were mixed, and the little feedback on walk-in centres was good: “Really good staff and got me sorted there and then.”
What Healthwatch is doing with it
The watchdog says it has shared what people told it about mental health care in emergency departments and urgent care with the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board’s Quality and Performance Committee. Its Citizens’ Panel has commented on bereavement booklets, hospital appointment letters and car park information, and it took part in assessments of the care environment at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals.
It has also started gathering patients’ experiences of corridor care with other Healthwatch groups in Cheshire and Merseyside, and plans more care home visits in 2027. It is asking to hear from people living with both cancer and dementia, and from those who care for them.
Daleside Nursing Home: “a supportive environment”
Healthwatch also published its report on an Enter and View visit to Daleside Nursing Home in Rock Ferry, carried out on 8 September (Daleside Nursing Home Enter and View, Healthwatch Wirral). The home provides nursing, residential and dementia care for up to 43 people. On the day, 34 residents lived there with 44 staff. It is run by We Care Group, which Healthwatch says runs 28 care and nursing homes across the north of England.
The visitors found “a supportive environment, with staff demonstrating an understanding of residents’ needs and treating people with dignity and respect”. They saw comfortable lounges, personalised bedrooms and building work under way, and noted good staff retention.
Their recommendations covered upkeep and safety: repairing the cracked front driveway, keeping stair gates, bathroom extractor fans and the wet room drain working, more dementia-friendly signs and picture menus, making sure staff know where the evacuation chairs are, replacing a missing loft cover and marking raised flagstones in the garden, which is part of the fire evacuation route.
In comments added to the full report, the home said it welcomed the recommendations. It said the stair gates had been adjusted, the loft hatch cover replaced and warning signs put up in the garden, and the evacuation chair swapped for an evacuation sledge. Quotes are being sought for the driveway and the wet room drain, and dementia-friendly signs and menus are being prepared.
The home’s manager told Healthwatch that residents sometimes came back from hospital at mealtimes or late at night, and the home has asked for transfers to arrive mid-morning where possible. Falls among residents had “decreased significantly in the last year”, the manager said.
Healthwatch Wirral is staying
The newsletter also confirms that Healthwatch Wirral will carry on. The Health Bill, now in the House of Lords, included clauses to abolish Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch groups. On 28 October the Government said those plans would be withdrawn and Healthwatch “retained and strengthened” (Healthwatch Wirral is here to stay).
Karen Prior, Healthwatch Wirral’s chief executive, said: “Over the last 16 months, our staff have managed the uncertainty with tenacity and commitment and demonstrated the importance of Healthwatch as the independent public voice. We would like to thank the public and local stakeholders for their incredible support during this time.”
What it means for you
- Had good or bad care? Tell Healthwatch through its Feedback Centre, which takes anonymous reviews, by calling 0151 230 8957 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.30pm) or by emailing info@healthwatchwirral.co.uk.
- Looking for an NHS dentist? Start with Healthwatch’s NHS dentist page, and if a practice listed as taking NHS patients turns you away, Healthwatch wants to hear.
- Choosing a care home? Healthwatch’s Enter and View reports sit alongside the Care Quality Commission’s inspection reports. Our earlier story covers the CQC’s Good rating for Wirral Council’s adult social care.
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