Quarterly impact report - October to December 2025

Our impact report highlights how our independent and impartial role helps us achieve our impact. This quarter some key examples are:

• Community led - Continuing to listen to people about their experience of non-emergency patient transport meant we were particularly concerned to hear about extended wait timess and issues with phone lines. Following our feedback the provider and commissioner have committed to monitoring all patient journeys more closely, investigating issues with phone lines and reviewing the complaints information given to patients.
• Partnership working - Our Helpdesk provides reliable and trustworthy information and signposting about local health and social care services to help people get the support they need. The service is completely confidential but - with the individual’s agreement - we use what people tell us to identify issues and areas for improvement in the system. This way we can help both individuals and the wider community. Since April 2025 more than 50 Surrey residents have told us they are struggling to have their needs for reasonable adjustments or accessible information met by NHS services. Our findings have been shared with the Learning Disability and Autism Partnership Board, the RADF (Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag*) Implementation Board and regional and national leads for the RADF.
• Insight driven - By sharing the experiences of Surrey residents who have actually been through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) process, we were able to ensure that lived experience guided their plans and strategies, with the ultimate aim of improving this experience for patients. We were also able to advise on accessibility to support the drive for a more accessible service.
• Rooted in the community - As part of our latest primary care project seeking to understand the barriers that may prevent people from black or Asian minoritised communities from having sight (eye) tests we’ve held seven separate engagement events with different groups across Surrey, working with community leaders to ensure the locations, timings and format of the events worked for the people we’re keen to hear from. We also assisted 19 people to book eye test appointments at these events.
• Voice for all - through the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy service, we supported an individual through the complaint process to understand why certain medication was prescribed, the alternatives that had been previously tried and why her doctor felt that this was the best course of treatment for her and in her best interests, including noting the clinical improvements that had been shown in her condition. Submitting this complaint allowed the person's concerns to be heard in the short term and facilitated improved communication between her and her care team in the longer term.
• Connected and consistent - following our In Safe Hands report about domestic abuse survivors experiences of general practice, this report has now been shared with over 20 boards and committees across Surrey, including the Domestic Abuse Commissioner's Office. The commissioner’s office has in turn shared it with NHS England’s domestic abuse and sexual violence team and with Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA) who host a policy working group on improving the response to domestic abuse within health settings. We also presented the report to over 80 people at the Safeguarding Adults Board. 

We thank everyone who gave their time and shared their experiences with us this quarter.