Our Impact
By participating in our surveys, you provide Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with vital insights that drive real change in local health and social care services. Every experience you share helps us understand what’s working well, where improvements are needed, and where services can be more accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of our community. Your feedback doesn’t just inform us, it helps shape decisions that affect thousands of lives.
What You Told Us
Over the last year, we heard from local people through 2,447 pieces of feedback about health and social care services across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
More than half of all feedback about access to services (52%) and administration (56%) was negative, highlighting ongoing concerns around appointments, waiting times, communication, and navigating services. Feedback about staff behaviour was more positive, with 46% of experiences rated positively, showing the important role that kindness, empathy, and good communication play in people’s care.
Some of the highest levels of negative feedback related to dental services (73%), autism services (75%), and ADHD support (65%), where people often reported difficulties accessing timely help and support. By listening to these experiences, we can identify common issues, celebrate what is working well, and make sure local voices help drive improvements in health and care services.
Supporting You Every Step of the Way
Our team directly assisted 156 individuals with additional information and signposting support during this period, providing advice and guidance to help them navigate health and social care services.
Whether helping someone find the right service, explaining their options, or supporting a complaint, we are committed to ensuring every person knows their rights and can access the care they need.
Engaging with Our Community
Our Engagement Team attended 199 events and heard from 1,376 people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with a particular focus on reaching communities whose voices are often underrepresented in health and care decision-making. Through attendance at community events, specialist support groups, cultural events, and targeted engagement activities, we gathered valuable feedback from a wide range of local people. We also strengthened our partnerships with educational providers, including Anglia Ruskin University, working with students on live projects, research initiatives, volunteering opportunities, and community engagement activities. These partnerships have helped us reach younger people, bring fresh perspectives into our work, and ensure a broader range of voices contribute to shaping local health and care services.
Insights That Inform Action
Since June 2025, we have published 10 new reports, including:
- Two community diagnostic reports
- A mental health report
- Neurodiversity Report
- Adults Mental Health Transitions Survey Report
- Our 2025 Annual Summit Report
- Arthur Rank Hospice Charity 'Enter and View'
- Alan Hudson Day Treatment Centre 'Enter and View'
- Field House Care Home 'Enter and View'
- The Orchards Care Home 'Enter and View'
These reports provide detailed insights into local services and the changes your feedback helps to drive. You can access all of our reports, including previous publications, by clicking the button below.
Influencing Change Locally and Nationally
Influencing Change Locally and NationallyAt Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, we’ve been proud to turn people’s experiences into actions that influence service design and public policy. For example, we recently worked with local residents, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Cambridgeshire Constabulary to feed back on policing approaches for people with autism and other neurodiverse conditions, helping shape training and practice locally.
On national health policy, patient feedback collected through us and Healthwatch England contributed to the government’s changes to the GP contract, ensuring patients’ challenges in accessing appointments and digital services were heard at the highest level. We’re also highlighting systemic pressures in urgent care, such as long waits and corridor care in A&E, by bringing people’s real experiences to light and calling for safer, more dignified care settings.
Additionally, we’re feeding local insight into national consultations like the Department of Health and Social Care’s proposals for NHS Online, making sure new digital services work for everyone and have conducted exploratory reports on the local use of the NHS App.
Feedback Across Services, Themes, and Providers
Between March 2025 and February 2026, community feedback highlighted both strengths and areas for improvement across health and care services. Hospital and community health services received generally mixed experiences, while social care and patient transport were flagged as areas needing closer attention.
Feedback also pointed to challenges in public health and environmental aspects of care, whereas positive experiences were more common around staff behaviours and treatment quality. Provider-specific insights showed variation in satisfaction, with dental services and certain NHS trusts receiving the most critical feedback. Overall, the insights help us pinpoint where services are performing well and where further improvements are needed to enhance patient experience across the county.
Key takeaways:
- Social care, patient transport, and public health remain priority areas for improvement.
- Staff behaviours and treatment quality are commonly highlighted as strengths.
- Provider-specific feedback identifies where targeted changes could make the most impact.
Informing local health and care improvements
The Annual Mental Health Summit 2025 brought together over 200 attendees, including patients and health leaders, to celebrate achievements, explore challenges, and discuss priorities for improving mental health services locally. The full summit report is available here.
Our Community Diagnostic Centres Report shared patient experiences from Ely and Wisbech, highlighting faster access, high-quality facilities, and caring staff, while also identifying areas for improvement such as clearer communication and transport information. These findings are informing the planned Peterborough CDC.
The Youthwatch Podcast: Teens Talk Vaping is being used to support informed conversations among teens, parents, and the wider community.
Our Young People’s Mental Health Report identified the impact of delays and poor transitions on mental health, providing recommendations for local providers to improve access, coordination, and communication.
2,447
Between June 2025 and June 2026, we received 2,447 individual pieces of feedback from members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough community.