News and reports

As part of our work on access to primary care we wanted to speak to Surrey residents with low vision about their experiences of specialist eye care services, as well as the information and support they receive between appointments and following discharge.

Hillcroft is a registered social care home for men and women over the age of 50 with a learning disability and associated needs.
We were shown around by the manager of the home, with some input from the deputy manager. We were able to speak to another staff member and meet one of the individuals living at Hillcroft. Three staff members completed our staff questionnaire. A family member of one of the people also completed the friends and family questionnaire.

This report highlights our major impacts throughout our second quarter of 2025/26 (July to September 2025). This quarter 677 people shared their experiences with us. Our work covered a wide range of health and social care, including Continuing Healthcare funding, services provided for those unable to leave their home, mental health support for people with learning disabilities, and information provision. The report also highlights the support provided to individuals through our Helpdesk and Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service.

New research from Healthwatch England has found that one in five men are now using platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube - and almost one in 10 are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots - for information on staying healthy.

Our latest Insight bulletin highlights the key themes we’ve been hearing about recently from local people. We also highlight our latest news and opportunities to get involved.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Reproductive Health is looking for female participants aged 18-30 to take part in a study on contraception decision making and online information.

Do you smoke?
Do you think about stopping smoking?
Is there anything that stops you reaching that goal?

If your answer is yes to any of these questions – Luminus would like to hear from you.

An opportunity for those who care for people living with dementia to take part in a survey being carried out by Dementia Carers Count, a national charity supporting, advocating and campaigning for carers.

This project is led by Samantha Laws, a PhD student at Cardiff University. She is conducting a study about the safety of non-conveyance. Non-conveyance is when ambulance crews attend patients when they call 999, but it is decided that they don’t need to go to the Emergency Department.

The SPACES research team at Oxford Brookes University are inviting women aged 40–65 to take part in a confidential interview study exploring a new alcohol support resource which has been designed for, by, and with mid-life women.

NHS England has launched a new central recruitment website for NHS volunteers, bringing health volunteering opportunities in one place for the first time.

This project, led by Willow McGowan-Crewe, a trainee clinical psychologist at Royal Holloway University, is looking at how mental health difficulties are experienced from the perspectives of people with learning disabilities when they were pregnant or up to two years after they gave birth. It will be exploring how people made sense of their mental health difficulties, what has helped with management and recovery of the mental health difficulties, and different types support that has been available.