2026 - 2027 projects

We asked you to share your views on urgent and emergency care services in County Durham.

Why we had this conversation

NHS leaders in County Durham were looking at the services that are available for people when they had an urgent or emergency health need.

We asked for your help to directly inform any future decisions, by reflecting on the real‑world experiences you have had. Helping us to better understand any barriers, needs and preferences local people may have when needing these services.

Staff and services across County Durham are already working together to help make sure they are meeting patients needs effectively.

However, we recognised that it was not always obvious to know where to go for treatment of an urgent / emergency health need.

Why we asked for your experiences:

We recognised it could be complicated to know which service to use in an urgent/ emergency health care situation

There are some differences in access to these services across the County Durham geography, this needs to be addressed

We wanted to understand people's views on the way services were working so we can improve for the future.

Undertaking the conversation

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their views and experiences as part of this project.

Over eight weeks, feedback was gathered through a public survey, 14 community sessions in addition to targeted outreach with the d/Deaf community, young people and local forums. This helped us collect direct experiences from people right across the County. We appreciate the support from local partners who helped us deliver this work.

People across County Durham were invited to join local conversations about services and support regarding Dementia. On 22 April, partners from Durham County Council and the local NHS launched a conversation with the public.

This was an opportunity for anyone to share their views and experiences regarding dementia support locally. This was the first stage in a series of conversations about different parts of the services that are provided locally over the coming months.

Phase 1 – Preventing Well

The first stage of these conversations was looking at focussing on prevention, early intervention and improving quality of life. This phase of the conversations ran until 17 June 2026.

Through an eight week engagement period, we have been able to collect the views of people across the local area. Thank you to all the groups and partners who helped us reach people directly. Further updates about this project, and the future phases of the work will be available on the Lets' Talk County Durham website.

The ICB worked with the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), Healthwatch and other partners on a programme to improve NHS patient transport services across the North East. 

Patient transport services provide free transport for people who cannot travel safely to or from hospital because of their health, mobility or other clinical needs.

We know the service does not always work as well as it should. We heard from people who have used the patient transport services in the North East. The survey was open for 6 weeks for people to share their views.

Please note: this survey does not cover patient transport services in North Cumbria.

Full information can be found on the patient transport services page.