Accessing NHS Services: A review of accessing NHS Services from Oldham residents with an Eastern European background
Oldham has a growing population of residents with an Eastern European background. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some of these families struggle to access GP and dentist appointments and data collected by Health Innovation Manchester in 2018/19 highlights the higher than average numbers of Eastern European families attending Oldham’s A&E services, often for issues relating to young children.
In order to improve our understanding, we invited 32 individuals/families to share their personal experiences and stories of accessing healthcare services.
Key Findings
Families highlighted many positive experiences of using NHS services including the quality of care, friendliness of the staff and the fact that services are free at the point of access. Recurring issues for families include limited access to translation services, problems registering with NHS dentists and long waiting times for GP appointments.
Key Themes
The following are some of the key themes identified in the feedback:
- Primary Care waiting times and knowledge of NHS services
- Accessible information
- Confidence in primary care treatment
- Expectations of UK health services
- Translation services
- Dental services
To understand more about these themes and recommendations made, you can access the full report below.
