Healthwatch Cornwall’s Annual Report 2025/26 is here, and it shows the real difference your voice makes.
Over the past year, more than 3,200 people across Cornwall spoke to us about their experiences of GP surgeries, dental care, mental health services and social care. Almost 300 more came to us for independent advice and signposting when they didn't know where else to turn. Every one of those conversations fed into something bigger: three comprehensive Issue Reports, 28 Enter & View visits resulting in over 95 recommendations, and ongoing work through our five Partnership Boards covering Ageing Well, Autism, Carers, Learning Disability and Mental Health.
Real impact, not just activity
This year's report doesn't just count what we did; it shows what changed as a result.
Nearly 1,200 people told us about their struggles accessing NHS dentistry, with 82% of those seeking routine care unable to get an appointment. That evidence didn't sit on a shelf. It fed into a Westminster debate led by Richard Foord MP, generated extensive media coverage, and directly shaped a new NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly dental strategy. As one senior NHS strategy officer put it, our findings were "the clearest evidence we had of public need."
We also turned a spotlight on the pressures facing Cornwall's adult care workforce, hearing that 55% of staff experience frequent work-related stress and 69% say care needs have become significantly more complex in the last year or two. These findings are now informing conversations about recruitment, retention and the sustainability of care services across the county.
And our Carers Partnership Board helped shape Cornwall's Carers Strategy itself, ensuring unpaid carers' experiences were built into the plan from the start.
Closer to home
Some of our most important work happened at a smaller scale. We expanded our network of Listening Hubs into places like Bugle, St Dennis, St Just, Bude and Mullion, making sure rural and seldom-heard communities had a way to be heard
close to home. And through our information and advice service, we helped individuals like Colin, who needed support understanding his father-in-law's hospital discharge options, and Jackie, whose autistic adult child needed joined-up support from social care, advocacy and community safety services.
