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Neighbourhood Health in Dover, Folkestone and Hythe
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Introduction
Between July 2025 and June 2026 we spoke to 163 individuals in the Dover and Folkestone & Hythe districts about their experience of health and social care services. Understanding their experiences can help inform what Neighbourhood Health looks and feels like from a patient perspective and how Neighbourhood Health can improve patient outcomes.
Methodology
The feedback was gathered through a variety of engagement methods, none of which asked questions specific to Neighbourhood Health. 91 pieces of the feedback was received unsolicited, the rest was received through solicited engagement at events, community groups and through high street surveys. Of these, 51 people were specifically asked about Mental Health Services.
Everyone who provided feedback were asked a series of demographic questions. Here are the results for Age Group, Gender and Financial Status.
Respondents by age demographic
Respondents by gender
Respondents by 'In the past 6 months, have you struggled to pay for basic neccessities?
From the experiences that we heard about there were four themes within Neighbourhood Health:
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Theme One - Discharge and follow up care (39 mentions)
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Theme Two - Having conditions managed within the community (35 mentions)
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Theme Three - Receiving care close to or in the home (21 mentions)
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Theme Four - Services being integrated within each other. (18 mentions)
39 people spoke about the discharge process or the importance of follow up care, in some cases where it was successful, some where there was a mixed experience and others where individuals were discharged and felt they received very little or no follow up care.
The range in experiences seems to illustrate how having a well-managed discharge and appropriate follow up care creates better experiences for patients. When the reverse happens, individuals report feeling vulnerable and more likely to rely on emergency and hospital services than being treated and supported within the community.
For the 15 people that had positive experiences with follow up and discharge, there were identified themes around progressing through their care journey within a reasonable timeframe and remaining in contact with health professionals where needed so they are able to react to any negative changes in their status.
An example of progressing within a reasonable timeframe is:
"I was seen within one week of the referral and operated on two weeks after at Kent and Canterbury Hospital. The consultant ... said it was a serious infection. The surgery went very well but then I had discharge coming from my ear so my GP made another referral, which is why I am here today, they think the gromet that was put in may have become dislodged... everything has gone really well."
For people highlighting an ongoing point of contact these included routine appointments or calls, or isolated incidents whereby the individual has been able to contact the necessary department or professional in good time.
What does this tell us?
That patients give importance to the feeling that their healthcare journey is progressing and that it doesn’t end when they are discharged. People highlight the value to them of regular 'check ups' and an established place for them to contact should their condition change. Where appropriate, there is not always a need for individuals to be receiving regular active check-ups, but an established place for them to contact should their condition change.
For those 11 that have had a mixed experience of follow up and discharge we begin to see issues arising in either the level of contact a person has with the relevant department/health professional or not progressing along their care journey as fast as they expected compared to those that had a positive experience.
For some it was that they remained in contact but are waiting long periods of time for test results and are having follow ups without the results, whereas for others it was having a sense of progression but when there was a change in circumstance they lost that ‘contact’.
Missing contact and no progression
13 people we spoke to have had serious issues with follow up after discharge, we see the complete breakdown of the contact and progression combination. We hear more feedback from those that have chronic or long-term conditions, where a lack of follow up post discharge has resulted in a negative experience.
Individuals begin to feel that contact with services is either not possible when symptoms change, or that contact that they have is dismissive if they are asking for a change of approach.
We hear more about online and telephone based contact within this sub theme, as well as service and location transfer. Examples from individuals include where they feel that they have been refused care that is beneficial to them or have been ‘left’ and ‘don’t know where to turn.’
Case studies
A Missed Opportunity:
We heard from one individual who was receiving treatment for their cancer about their experience of feeling ‘in contact’ and the importance of follow up care.
“There could be lots of complications from my treatment but really the issue is not knowing, not being told what the complications could be and how to spot them. After my first round of chemotherapy, I tried to go to a WI lunch in Folkestone but on the way the light made me very dizzy.”
At this point the individuals husband decided to contact the ward that the individual was receiving chemotherapy from. However as they were unable to reach the ward they phoned an ambulance instead.
“My husband called the Celia Blakey unit to ask if this was a symptom of my treatment. We couldn’t get through and they didn’t call back so my husband called an ambulance. The ambulance crew called the stroke unit at Kent and Canterbury hospital, who said it probably wasn’t a stroke but to check if it was a symptom of my treatment.”
The individual’s husband was able to get through to the department who said that the dizziness was not a symptom of chemotherapy, lead to the individual going to hospital for a series of tests into the early hours of the morning.
“We called the Celia Blakey unit again and got through to someone who said dizziness wasn’t a symptom of my chemotherapy, so the ambulance took us to the hospital. We got they’re at 5pm on a Wednesday, I had blood tests and a CT. By the time they finished and decided I wasn’t having a stroke it was 3am.”
A few days later the individual received a call from the doctor at their Cancer Services ward for a check up call, where they learnt that the dizziness is a side effect of the steroids they are taking. If this information had been provided as part of an earlier follow up or as part of the initial call to the ward, the ambulance call out and hospital admission could have been avoided.
"That Friday the doctor at the Celia Blakey unit called to check up. They didn’t know anything about my hospital visit so we told them and they said that dizziness was a symptom of the steroids I was on. If we had know that it would have saved us a hospital trip. Everything is communication”
An example of not getting the care they would like:
“The individual has multiple complex mental health issues but has a good insight into their own condition. They were admitted to the hospital this summer. They felt that the hospital really helped with their mental health issues.
At their discharge meeting they expressed concerns over leaving as they felt they were not ready. They said, "The hospital is a safe, regulated environment and I was worried that due to this environment we didn't know how well the prescribed medication was working... as I wasn't in any stressful situations. I wasn't by myself and there weren't really any triggers. I was made homeless whilst being in hospital and the team at HomeChoice found me a place... away from where I live and all the people I know and I feared this could be stressful and triggering for me and could lead to a psychotic episode...
The individual mentioned that their discharge letter was full of errors, stating that the information in it was false or misleading. They were very angry about this considering the positive experience they had at the hospital. They wished for there to be a review of the record and would now record any meetings with mental health professionals as they had lost trust in them.”
An example of feeling 'left':
"From [the] Tuesday in A&E really poorly [male loved one] being given a bed in a corridor Wednesday evening and not being admitted until Thursday finally being told following week after EUS (sic) he is very poorly. Then discharged.
Then a phone call more than a week later telling him he has Cancer a huge shock for him, ring this number if you need help we will need to do further procedures, to this day we have had two more procedures, took more than the 26 days to properly diagnose and only done that [in] November and still waiting for phone calls we never get, with explanation we never get.
I strongly feel he has just been left. We have chased phone calls and get nowhere. We don’t know where to turn."
Theme Two – Managing Conditions
