Healthwatch Tameside Annual Report 2025-2026

Report - 18 June 2026

Take a read of this years Annual Report and see how your voices have helped shape health and social care services in Tameside.
Healthwatch Tameside has published its Annual Report for 2025/26, highlighting a year of strong community engagement, meaningful impact, and continued commitment to ensuring local voices shape health and social care services.
 
Despite a challenging and uncertain national landscape, the report demonstrates how Healthwatch Tameside has remained focused on its core mission: championing the voices of local people and driving improvements in care.

Our year in numbers

This year, we have continued to grow our reach and impact across Tameside:

  • We supported over 4,519 people to have their say or access information about their care.
  • We helped 3,116 people through our advice and information service – a 13% increase on last year.
  • We published three research reports, including work on Pharmacy First, GP access and Accessible Communication.
  • We carried out six Enter & View visits to care homes, helping improve quality and safety.
  • We engaged with residents at 57 community events and regular outreach sessions.

Making a difference

Throughout the year, we have worked closely with communities, partners and system leaders to ensure people’s experiences lead to real change.

Improving services

Our work has contributed to improvements across a range of settings, including:

  • Raising concerns at Tameside Hospital, leading to improvements in patient support and infection control practices.
  • Influencing awareness and delivery of services such as Pharmacy First across Tameside and Greater Manchester.
  • Working with GP practices to improve how they meet the Accessible Information Standard.
  • Improved care and safety quality across residential care homes in Tameside as part of our Enter & View programme, including following up with care homes visited in 2024-25. We're pleased to confirm a number of recommendations implemented as part of this work.

Hearing from all communities

We are committed to making sure every voice is heard, especially those who are often underrepresented.

This year, we worked with:

  • People with learning disabilities
  • People with sight loss
  • Deaf residents and BSL users
  • Autistic people

Their experiences helped shape our research and recommendations, particularly around accessible communication in GP services

As we look ahead, we remain committed to ensuring the people of Tameside continue to have an independent voice within health and social care. We will continue working with local leaders to drive change, strengthen community influence and secure a future where local experiences shape services.
Alex Leach, Healthwatch Tameside Lead Officer

Downloads

To view our Healthwatch Tameside Annual Report 2025-26, please download the document below.

If you have any questions or comments on any of the detail featured in the report, we would welcome you contacting our Healthwatch Tameside team

info@healthwatchtameside.co.uk

Healthwatch Tameside Annual Report 2025 - 2026
Download (PDF 2.49 MB)

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