Patient Experience Week 2026: What We Heard from Local People

Blog - 11 June 2026

During Patient Experience Week 2026, we spoke to hundreds of people across hospitals and GP practices to understand their experiences of health and care services. Read our report to discover what local people told us is working well, where challenges remain, and how their feedback will help shape future improvements.

During Patient Experience Week 2026, Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough spoke to 415 people across local health and care settings and gathered a total of 157 pieces of feedback, including 152 NHS experiences and 5 Adult Social Care survey responses.

The aim of the week was to hear directly from patients, carers and service users about their experiences of health and social care services, helping us to understand what is working well and where improvements may be needed. By gathering feedback at scale across multiple locations, we were able to capture a broad snapshot of patient experience from communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Our Engagement Team and volunteers visited a range of high-footfall healthcare settings, including Peterborough City Hospital, Botolph Bridge Health Centre, Boroughbury Medical Centre, Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and North Cambridgeshire Hospital. Speaking to people at the point of care enabled us to gather real-time feedback from those actively accessing services.

The week also helped raise awareness of the importance of patient voice, with Healthwatch featuring on Peterborough City Radio. During the interview, we discussed the value of listening to local people's experiences and how feedback can be used to influence positive change across health and care services.

The findings from Patient Experience Week provide valuable insight into the experiences of local people. The feedback highlights examples of excellent care and support, while also identifying areas where people continue to face challenges. These insights have been shared throughout this report and will be used to inform discussions with providers, commissioners and system leaders to help drive service improvements.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to speak with us during Patient Experience Week, as well as the health and care organisations that welcomed us into their services and the volunteers who supported our engagement activities. Your contributions help ensure that the voices of local people remain at the heart of decisions about health and care services.

Explore our findings

Patient Experience Week Results
Download (PDF 2.23 MB)

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Patient Experience Week 2026: What We Heard from Local People

During Patient Experience Week 2026, we spoke to hundreds of people across hospitals and GP practices to understand their experiences of health and care services. Read our report to discover what local people told us is working well, where challenges remain, and how their feedback will help shape future improvements.
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Bringing Patient Voices Together: Our Primary Care PPG Forum

We are pleased to share an update from our latest Primary Care Patient Participation Group (PPG) Forum — an important space where PPG members from across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough come together to share experiences, strengthen relationships with GP practices, and influence improvements in primary care.

Our PPG Forums are held seven times a year: three for the North Place (Peterborough, Fenlands, Huntingdonshire), three for the South Place (Cambridge, South Cambs and Ely), and one countywide combined forum that brings everyone together. This structure ensures that local issues can be explored in depth while also creating opportunities for shared learning across the whole area.

Our most recent combined forum brought together representatives from 14 GP surgeries, alongside members of the Cambridge City Primary Care Network and the Cambridgeshire South Care Partnership team. Through a series of workshops and discussions, participants explored what has been working well within their PPGs, how to reach a broader and more diverse patient voice, and how to build stronger relationships with practice staff.

The conversations were rich and insightful. Groups shared examples of successful initiatives — from helping at vaccine clinics and running health education events, to training patients in using the NHS App and supporting practice open days. Many PPGs have been strengthening their role as a bridge between patients and practices, offering feedback, supporting communication, and getting more involved in community activities.

Participants also highlighted ongoing challenges across primary care, including concerns about practice capacity, the impact of new housing developments, the future of patient engagement, and the need for clearer communication about how Primary Care Networks operate.

These forums continue to demonstrate the real value of bringing PPG members together: sharing practical ideas, supporting one another, and ensuring patient perspectives are heard at every level of the health and care system.

We are grateful to everyone who took part and look forward to continuing these important conversations at our next North and South Place sessions.
Report
Audience listening to a speaker at Healthwatch Summit 2023

How Your Feedback Has Made a Difference

Thanks to your feedback, we’ve helped bring about meaningful improvements to local health and care services. Here are some of the ways your voice has made a difference:

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