Flintshire Communities First Support Wales Health Research

During May and June, Flintshire Communities First has been supporting Sarah Rochira, the Older Peoples Commissioner for Wales, with a national survey looking at older people’s experiences of accessing their GP services. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor Christine Jones, said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“Many older people have shared their positive experiences but others have highlighted the challenges they face when accessing and using GP services. This will help to identify areas in which improvements are needed. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The voices and experiences of older people living in Flintshire are captured through a short questionnaire which will be returned to Sarah when she and her team will start collating the national information in advance of publishing their report early next year.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Working in partnership with Ella Jackson, Owl Cymru`s engagement worker for older people, and Town and County Councillors from Greenfield Vera Davey, lead officer for Flintshire Communities First has been visiting luncheon clubs, coffee mornings and social groups to support older people with this survey. She said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

‘Communities First is very happy to support such a valuable research project and to be able to work on this with the older residents living in our areas. We look forward to feeding back the results of the survey to participating groups and individuals when they are published early next year.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​