News & reports

Finding an NHS dentist in Portsmouth can be challenging. Due to high demand and staff shortage, you may find some NHS dentists in Portsmouth are not accepting new NHS patients or have long waiting lists currently. To make things easier, we have created an NHS dentist availability guide and a map showing NHS dental practices across Portsmouth. The map also includes nearby bus routes to help you plan your journey. A dentist working on his patient NHS dentist availability in Por

We are delighted to welcome the Government's announcement that Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch will not be abolished, as previously proposed eighteen months ago.

Recently, Healthwatch Portsmouth discovered that the 'Consultations' tab could no longer be found on the home screen in the NHS App. The old 'Consultation' tab was where patients' health records were stored. We now have found that the contents of the old 'Consultations' tab have been moved in to the 'Appointments' tab on the 'Home' page. Two girls looking at the NHS app on a phone What are your 'appointment notes' on NHS app? Your 'Appointment notes and other updates' include

Pharmacy First Survey in Portsmouth Healthwatch services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are inviting residents to share their experiences of the NHS Pharmacy First service. If you live in Portsmouth, please fill in our survey here: Healthwatch Portsmouth Pharmacy First Survey 2026 Whether you've used the service or chosen not to, we want to understand your experience and views about the NHS Pharmacy First service. Your feedback will help identify what's working well a

University of Essex and Healthwatch Essex are inviting people to share their experience using or receiving a Trauma Card or a Young Person's Trauma Keyring: Using a Trauma Resource to Support Trauma-Informed Care: Perspectives from Survivors and Healthcare Practitioners What is a Trauma Card or Young Person's Trauma Keyring? Trauma cards or Trauma keyrings include information or have QR codes of information, explaining trauma and guidance on how to provide sensitive care. Pat

We are sharing our work plan with the public to help you understand what our work priorities are from April 2026 to March 2027. Our workplan is focuing on making an impact through influencing health and care, supporting our work activities, and projects and evidence, and ways to measure our impacts. We will keep listening to the local communities, especailly underserved communities, and help shaping and scrutinising health and care in Portsmouth. Read our workplan here:

Since December 2025, Portsmouth Community Diagnostic Centre has been offering out-of-hours services, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you don't know what is a Community Diagnostic Centre, Healthwatch Portsmouth is here to help and explain it to you. What is Community Diagnostic Centre Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) have been built to provide tests, checks and scans faster and closer to home. They allow a patient to get an MRI, blood test, ultrasound all in a single visi

From 10 September 2026, Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust Phlebotomy Services will be moving to an online appointment booking system for routine blood tests. Which phlebotomy sites will be affected This change will apply to all five phlebotomy sites: Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) St Mary's Hospital Petersfield Community Hospital Gosport War Memorial Hospital Fareham Community Hospital If you can't book appointments online For people who don't have digital devices, inte

The 2026 summer bank holiday falls on Monday, 31 August 2026 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. If you need to get your medicine from a Portsmouth pharmacy, please check their opening time before making a move. To make it easy for you, we have collected Portsmouth and Hampshire's (Southampton, Fareham, Gosport, North Hampshire, West Hampshire, South Hampshire) pharmacy opening times: Here is a map showing all the pharmacies across the Southeast of England that will be o