Healthwatch Cheshire East publish Annual Report 2025-26

Healthwatch Cheshire East are proud to publish our Annual Report for 2025/26.

It has been another busy year for our team of staff and volunteers, out in the community listening to the people of Cheshire East and using what we hear to push for better health and care. More than 4,000 people had their say this year, and we came away with a clearer picture than ever of what’s working well and where things still need to change.

Much of our work has focused on hospital discharge and making it easier to get the care you need, when you need it. We spoke to residents at Leighton Hospital about their discharge experience, and to those discharged from Macclesfield Hospital for our Discharge to Assess report, and both are now directly informing Mid Cheshire NHS Foundation Trust, Cheshire East NHS Trust and the local authority. We also heard from nearly 1,200 residents about what it’s really like trying to get a GP appointment, taking those voices straight to the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB Board, where they’re now helping shape the Primary Care Access Recovery Plan.

Our Enter and View visits took us to Leighton and Macclesfield A&E departments to check on corridor care, and out to care homes across the borough, where we heard from over a hundred residents and families. We also helped Cheshire East Council’s Adult Carers Survey reach carers across more than 25 community organisations, from foodbanks to stroke survivor groups, and gathered feedback on the NHS App to share directly with the national design team.

It’s been a year of real uncertainty nationally about the future of Healthwatch, and we’ve felt that keenly. But it’s also reminded us how much our independence matters — it’s what lets people speak to us honestly, in a way they might not always feel able to with the services themselves. Whatever changes lie ahead, that hasn’t changed how we work.

We hope you enjoy reading more about our work this year, and that you’ll share in our pride at what our team and volunteers have achieved.

You can read the report here: Annual Reports