A REPORT into the impact of lockdown on people's wellbeing and experience of health and care services in Shropshire has been published.

During April and May, Healthwatch Shropshire asked residents across the county a number of questions, specifically related to the virus' impact and access to health care.

More than 550 people were involved in the report, with 93 per cent of people saying they had found it easy to find clear and understandable information about how to keep themselves and others safe.

The report also found key workers and people working during the pandemic reported a greater impact on their mental health and wellbeing than those not working.

And overall 40 per cent of people said that their healthcare had been affected by the pandemic with this figure rising to 69 per cent for those people with a disability

Lynn Cawley, chief officer for Healthwatch Shropshire, said the survey was key to finding out any issues with Shropshire's healthcare system.

"As we all started to work from home, we felt it was our responsibility to give people the chance to share their experiences during lockdown to help the health and social care system understand the impact locally and identify any gaps in information and services they might be able to fill," said Ms Cawley.

"At the beginning of lockdown we did not know what impact Covid-19 would have in Shropshire and how challenging it would be for NHS and social care services so we asked open rather than direct questions to allow people to go into the detail they felt comfortable with.

"The majority of people recognised the challenges the pandemic placed on the system and told us that they valued the NHS and wanted to protect it."

The full findings from the report can be found at www.healthwatchshropshire.co.uk/report/2020-07-07/health-care-and-well-being-services-during-covid-19-pandemic