Healthwatch City of London August Newsletter
Welcome to our August newsletter. This morning I am delighted to present our Annual Report from 2022/23, the report highlights our achievements over the past year. We are particularly keen to thank all of you for your input and insights into how services work locally. Without you we would not be able to make the changes we do an or keep those planning and delivering services up to-date with your concerns and your ideas. Please keep talking to us so that we can make the difference you want and need.
With our new team in place, we are making great progress in planning our new engagement events where we will bring you the latest on areas of interest and where you share with us your experiences. We would also love to hear what you would like to know more about; nothing better than a coffee and a chat to share your thoughts. Volunteering is a great way to support your local community and we are looking for volunteers with a specialist skill to help support our work and if that’s not for you why not helps us out practically on the ground. To find out more visit our website.
Thank you to all of you who gave your feedback in our annual survey. We are closing the survey today and will report back next month on the outcomes and how we will respond to your views.
Importantly, we are very excited to restart our Enter and View programme, this is where we go into Health and Social Care settings to hear and see how people experience the service. We’ll be starting with the Goodman’s Fields Medical Centre in September, with visits currently being arranged for the Neaman Practice and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. If you would like to be part of an Enter and View or just want give us your thoughts on any of these services please visit our website.
In October we’ll be joined by Ian Thomas CBE, Town Clerk and Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation to talk about the City of London’s vision for providing us with 21st century Health and Social Care. Join us for coffee and pastries at St Giles Church Cripplegate. Our Annual General Meeting will follow on so please do come along. All the details are below.
All the best
Gail
Healthwatch City of London Annual Report: Watching and working for you
Today we are publishing our Annual Report for 2022/23. The report gives an overview of what we’ve been doing for you over the past year, our successes, an overview of our projects and our events.
Our highlights of the year were:
- Successfully negotiating with St Bartholomew’s Hospital to carry out ECGs and echocardiograms at the Neaman Practice, this has saved many of you a trip to UCH.
- Supporting and campaigning for the Foot care service and contributing to the securement of additional clinics. Access to foot health clinics is something you have told us is important to you.
- Supporting the development of the London Ambulance Service five year strategy. It was good to see so many interested people at our event and gave some of you the opportunity to learn more from the LAS.
- Continued working with the Neaman Practice to ensure the practice team were responsive to you.
To read our Annual Report, please visit our website Healthwatch City of London Annual Report 2022-23 | Healthwatch Cityoflondon
Join the Big Conversation
Join in on the Big Conversation, it’s about listening to you, the patient and user of NHS Health and social care services. The North East London NHS Trust, who are responsible for the delivery of those services, want to hear your views on what good looks like in health and care provision. They are interested in what you have to say and are reaching out to hear more about your view on Health and Social Care provision so by completing the survey you will help them prioritise.
To find out more information and to complete the survey you can visit The Big Conversation webpage
The Big Conversation with the Older People
We are working with NHS North East London to hear from specific groups across the City of London and neighbouring Boroughs. If you are an older person or care for an older person, please join us for a focus group to discuss in further details the issue affecting Older People accessing Health and Social Care services.
We are holding the meeting on Zoom in a couple of weeks time.
Please join us on Zoom to have your say, on Thursday, 17 August from 2:30pm to 4pm.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86448603660pwd=QzRLNFRxUFd2aWhaSz NUeG1KZTBrdz09
Meeting ID: 864 4860 3660
Passcode: 293323
Meet the Town Clerk
We are delighted to announce that the Town Clerk and Chief Executive of the City of London Corporation, Ian Thomas CBE will be joining us for our Annual General Meeting.
This is a fantastic opportunity for you all to come along to ask Ian about the City’s strategy for Health and Social Care. It will be held on 19 October from 10am to 12pm. St Giles Cripplegate Church, Barbican. There will be refreshments before and after, so pop along, meet your neighbours and pose your questions to the Town Clerk.
To join us you can register https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/healthwatch-city-of-london-annual-general-meeting-tickets-687958712027?aff=oddtdtcreator
Summer Community Fun Days!
Fancy some summer activities? Let’s hope the sun shines for the two summer fun days coming up, organised for the City of London Corporation by Society Links. Both events will be filled with BBQ competitions, arts and craft, a bouncy castle, info stalls and more! The events are at:
- Portsoken Community Centre on Friday, 11 August from 3pm to 6pm and at
- Golden Lane Community Centre on Wednesday, 16 August from 3pm to 6pm.
For more information on either event, you can email info@societylinks.org.uk or call 0207 702 0901
Help shape the City of London’s sexual and reproductive health strategy
This is your chance to shape the City and Hackney sexual and reproductive health strategy. The City of London Corporation and Hackney Council are currently consulting on a draft five-year strategy for sexual and reproductive health. Share your views to help them to decide on the priorities for the strategy.
To share your thoughts, please visit the City & Hackney Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy - Hackney Council - Citizen Space
Looking for information on Diabetes?
Join the South East Coast and London Diabetes UK team on Tuesday, October 17 from 12:30 to 2pm for an online talk to learn more about diabetes. The session is for people living with and affected by diabetes. You will learn about the link between diabetes and kidney disease, how kidney disease is managed and how it can be prevented.
The team will be joined by Dr Hellena Habte-Asres, Lead Clinical Academic Research Nurse in Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease, London, and Andrew Freeman, Expert by Experience.
You can register here: https://tinyurl.com/5c6kfeer and to check out their website, you can visit www.diabetes.org.uk
Struggling with mental health? Or know some who is?
The City and Hackney Wellbeing Network have launched a service for adult residents of City and Hackney who are struggling with mental health, had tough life experiences and who are finding it difficult to find the right support.
There is access to events that are open to all residents of City& Hackney. Opportunities for you to meet people in the community and to access support and maintain your wellbeing.
Read more here about the service here https://chwellbeingnetwork.london/
Measles cases are rising in London
It is estimated that there could be as many as 40,000-160,000 cases of measles in London.
Symptoms of measles can be very unpleasant. The good news is that the vaccination protects people against measles and will help prevent the spread of the disease.
Parents of children aged 4 to 11, whose vaccination record says they are behind on polio and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations, will be contacted by an organisation called Vaccination UK. They have been employed by the NHS to arrange catch up doses at a local clinic. Alternatively, parents can book one directly by emailing appointments@v-uk.co.uk or calling 020 8017 4292 or contact their GP.
Help on how to cope with the Cost of Living Crisis
The current Cost of Living Crisis is causing many people to struggle with their increased expenses. City Advice has created a toolkit to help you with your expenses and provides some tips on how you can maximise your income and lower your expenses.
If you are finding that it is becoming harder to pay your bills, the guide gives useful advice on how to get help from your energy provider, as well as getting help with your water bills, and mobile, phone and internet bills. The guide also gives great information on schemes that you can access to lower your expenses, such as the Resident Support Scheme and the Healthy Start Scheme.
To read part one of How to cope with the Cost of Living Crisis visit https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/How-to-cope-with-the-Cost-of-Living-Crisis-P1.pdf
To read part two visit https://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2023/07/How-to-cope-wi…
If you are living, studying or working in the City of London you can access services at City Advice. You can visit their website www.toynbeehall.org.uk/cityadvice or email them at city.advice@toynbeehall.org.uk
New Director of Nursing at St Bartholomew’s Hospital
It has been announced that David Curran has been appointed as the new director of nursing at St Bartholomew’s hospital. He will be taking over from Angela Robinson who recently announced her retirement from nursing earlier this year.
David is an experienced member of the hospital leadership team as he joined St Bartholomew’s as an associative director of nursing for cancer care in 2019. David spoke of how “To be appointed the director of nursing at St Bartholomew’s is the privilege of my career. I’m so proud of the staff at Barts and the work they do for our patients every day.’ One of David’s first priorities will be to ‘attract the best nurses and allied health professionals to deliver outstanding care at this hospital and to prepare us for the challenges and exciting opportunities that our immediate future brings.’
David is expected to begin his new role as the new director of nursing at the end of September.
Wait Well, Stay Well
The NHS in North East London has developed a new website called ‘Wait Well, Stay Well’.
Currently waiting times for some treatments and procedures are longer than usual and whist the NHS is working hard to reduce the backlog, unfortunately some patients are currently facing longer wait times. The new ’Wait Well, Stay Well’ website is designed to provide useful information and links to local and national resources to help people manage their own health and wellbeing while they wait for treatment or a hospital procedure.
The website aims to:
- Answer any questions you might have about your treatment;
- Give guidance on current waiting times at your local hospital Trust;
- Offer advice for staying well mentally and physically while you wait for your appointment;
- Help you prepare for the procedure itself;
- Direct you to local resources that you can use for extra support.
Click here for the Wait Well, Stay Well website If you are currently waiting for treatment or have accessed this service, please do let us know of your experiences by emailing at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Share your experiences of using digital health services
The Health Innovation Network, on behalf of NHS England, are inviting you to share your experience of using digital health services in GP practices by completing a 10 min survey.
Participants will be entered in a draw with a chance to win a £100 shopping voucher. The survey and draw will close on 11/08/2023.
To take part, please click here
We do understand that many of you do not use digital health services or do not have access to them. We are working to find out how many of you don’t access Health Services using digital channels, and what we can do to make sure that your voice isn’t lost.
The City of London new website
The City of London have created a new destination website which you can visit to see the best that London has to offer, including London’s culture, attractions, experiences and its retails and hospitality sector.
You can visit https://www.thecityofldn.com/ to check it out.
Keep up to date with the latest advice
HWCoL are constantly updating our advice and information pages. Please make sure you visit them regularly. https://www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/advice-and-information
Get in touch with us
Visit our website for more information, news, and events, have your say about your care, and spread the word about Healthwatch City of London.
www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk email: info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk Tel: 020 3745 9563 Facebook: facebook.com/CoLHealthwatch Twitter: @HealthwatchCoL
Portsoken Health and Community Centre, 20 Little Somerset Street, London E1 8A
