HW10: What we do – analysing

Here at Healthwatch Trafford, we spend a lot of time analysing. Analysing data from surveys, putting together reports, and working with partner organisations to conduct research are just some of the ways in which we examine, interpret, and explain information.

One of the things you’ve (hopefully!) noticed us doing is creating surveys to find out what local people’s thoughts and experiences are. We then look at the results and present the findings in a report. This report gets published on our website but also passed on to organisations like Trafford Council, Trafford Integrated Care Partnership, and anyone else that might find it useful.

Our results are always anonymous, but we look at information about gender, ethnicity, age, and other characteristics to see who is taking part and where we need to focus more. We also think about how this affects our results and what that tells us. For example, if only young people fill in a survey then we know something is really important to them, but don’t know what older people think and may need to do more work in that area.

We don’t always research things using a survey; our volunteers have conducted mystery shops on GP websites, reviewed a youth mental health platform, and led Enter & View visits to health and social care sites across the borough. Different research methods give us different perspectives and allow us to do work across a variety of settings- sometimes even from home!

Alongside our routine work, we’ve collaborated with other organisations on projects and research across Greater Manchester; from investigating urgent care to conducting data analysis for the GM-wide Big Conversation project, which helped shape the Integrated Care Partnership’s five-year plan.

All local Healthwatch feed their work into the Healthwatch England Report Library, which stores information gathered by over 150 Healthwatch branches. This helps us see what people all over the country think and experience, as well as inform our own work.

We don’t only look to other people for tips and tricks, but also share some of our own! Over the past few years, Healthwatch Trafford’s Research & Projects Officer has co-hosted online session on data analysis and helped create e-learning modules for the staff to use.

Understanding what you tell us and what it means is a crucial part of our work. We know the importance of insight gained from looking at different people’s experiences, and that’s why analysing is one of our key values as an organisation.