News and reports

Do you need to avoid gluten to stay healthy? The NHS in the North East and North Cumbria has launched a six-week public survey asking people to share their thoughts on a proposal to stop prescribing gluten-free bread, rolls and flour mixes in our region.

Find out our highlights from 2024-25, including who we engaged with, our focus areas and our impacts. Our latest Annual Report highlights our work over the last twelve months, and how the landscape of health and social care services has changed.

Like us, you may have seen the news this weekend regarding the government’s decision to close Healthwatch, including Healthwatch England and the network of over 150 local Healthwatch. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by this decision and we are awaiting the publications of the NHS 10 Year Plan and Penny Dash Review into Patient Safety to help us understand this further.

At Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees, we spend a lot of time listening to people’s experiences with health and care services. But some of the most powerful stories come from the youngest voices, especially when they show us a new way to understand something as big and complicated as grief.

As part of our 2025 workplan focus on children and young people’s mental health, Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees is proud to share the powerful story of 9-year-old Daisy Mathison, a Stockton youngster who transformed personal grief into a message of hope and healing for others.

The latest edition of the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) newsletter is now available online.

Following your feedback, Healthwatch England have been working with Royal Mail and a coalition of NHS and patient organisations to ensure vital NHS communications are delivered on time.

You can find out the opening hours for pharmacies across the Tees Valley for the Easter Bank Holidays below.

On Tuesday 25th March 2025 we held our annual event to celebrate our communities achievements throughout the year, raise the voices of those with lived experience, provide valuable information about local support services and work together to shape our workplan for 2025-2026.

As part of the Healthwatch Tees Valley network, Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees worked with other local Healthwatch on an engagement project to gather feedback from patients, carers, and the wider community to help the hospitals focus on areas for improvement.

The Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently announced that he will bring the NHS back under the control of ministers by abolishing NHS England.

Healthwatch across the North East and North Cumbria worked in partnership with NHS North East and North Cumbria on the BIG Conversation with a region-wide survey and series of focus groups to find out what matters most to women and girls when it comes to their health. You can read the findings and the recommendations report below.