Healthwatch City of London February Newsletter
Chat from our Chair
Welcome to our February newsletter, we are well and truly back in the saddle. Our year started off a Patient Panels on Deaf Awareness, a very important topic that impacts many in our community who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thank you to all those who came along and to Jane Richardson who spoke on her personal experience of hearing loss and gave great advice on how best to communicate with those who are deaf or hard of hearing, such as directly looking at the person when you’re speaking, writing things down and not shouting when talking, as it only works to make it harder for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing to understand you. You can find more resources on our website such as where to go when you’re experiencing hearing loss and how to access free hearing aids.
Our next Patient Panels are on Safeguarding something all of us should be thinking about as its vital that we keep safe those of us who might be vulnerable, and we are delighted to be able to offer a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training session with the London Ambulance Service, more information on those events is down below.
Being accessible to you is very important to us, so our next board meeting in public on the 15 February is much later in the day enabling those of you who work to meet us from the comfort on your own home We will be joined by Dr Chor from the Neaman Practice, who will provide an update on the Practice, current available services and answer any questions. More details on how to join are later on in the newsletter.
We are making good progress planning our Enter and View at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and its administrative services so please do let us know about your experiences, these will help us when we get to meet the teams at Barts and make sure we are addressing the issues you are worried about. More about how to get involved can be found further down.
Finally we are pleased to introduce you to Judy Guy-Briscoe, who has joined us on the HWCoL board as a trustee, she is a resident in the City and has been working and volunteering in the community for many years, we look forward to working together.
Gail
Gail Beer, Chair, Healthwatch City of London
Introducing our new trustee, Judy Guy-Briscoe
Judy has recently joined our Board as a trustee, she has lived in the City of London for forty-five years with her family. Judy taught for thirty-nine years in inner London secondary schools, ending as an Advanced Skills Teacher of Health and Social Care. In her teaching career, the content of her GSCE and A level classes included the structure of Health and Social Care Services, Judy also was a member of the managements team which oversaw budgets and planned for complex objectives.
Judy is an Honorary Secretary of the trustees of the Friends of the City Churches and has volunteered at Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse and with Age UK in their Wellbeing Walk Leader national scheme. Judy enjoys meeting new people and looks forward to listening to people’s experiences and views.
Join us at our upcoming events
Patient Panel into Safeguarding
In February, we will be holding a Patient Panel into Safeguarding. Safeguarding consists of measures that are used to protect individuals’ health and wellbeing and human rights, in order to live a life that is free from harm and abuse. Safeguarding applies to all members of our community, however it does target those who are most vulnerable or susceptible to abuse, such as children and those who are elderly.
We will be joined by Dr Adi Cooper, the chair of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Adults Board and members from the City of London Corporation, who will walk you through what safeguarding is and how you are able to promote this and identify issues and how to let the right people know about concerns. You will also have the opportunity to directly ask questions about safeguarding, such as how safeguarding can impact you and those important to you.
Join us on Friday, 9 February from 10am to 11:30am at the Golden Lane Community Centre, to register please visit Learn about safeguarding and how to identify and report concerns Tickets, Fri 9 Feb 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
If you are interested in suggesting a topic for a Patient Panel that relates to Health and Social Care in the City of London, please email us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.uk.org
We need your ideas and thoughts to make it relevant to our community.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training
We know that CPR can be the difference between life and death. The London Ambulance Service (LAS) goal is to make London a city of lifesavers by ensuring that every person has the ability to use CPR and a defibrillator in critical situations. We are holding a CPR training session in collaboration with the LAS.
The training will be a 2.5 hour training at the Portsoken Community Centre from 10am to 12:30pm on Friday, 8 March. The training will tackle the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack, the chain of survival, adult basic life support (CPR), how you can deal with unconscious people and the how to utilise the recovery position, how to use a defibrillator and how to deal with choking.
Spaces are currently sold out, however to join the waiting list please contact info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
We are currently considering holding a second CPR training event depending on how many people are interested, if you are interested please email info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Looking back and moving forward with the Shoreditch Park and City Neighbourhoods team
Wondering what the Neighbourhoods Shoreditch Park and City been up to and the impact it has made on your life? Join them on Tuesday 6 February from 4pm to 6pm to find out more. We will be there and will be reporting back but be good to know your views. There will be a focus on what the Neighbourhood has achieved over the past year and what their future priorities are.
The venue will be confirmed soon, to register please visit here https://cityandhackneyneighbourhoods.org.uk/neighbourhoods/shoreditch-park-city/
Update on Cancer Wait Times at Barts Health
Barts Health has announced that for five months, their cancer teams have met the national cancer wait times standard which is to ensure that patients who are suspected of having cancer are diagnosed within four weeks.
There are still 317 patients who have been waiting for more than two months for treatment, there are plans from Barts Health to halve this backlog by next March, which has been supported by NHS England providing £430,000 through oversight arrangements.
Barts Health is also planning on implementing new AI technology which will work to increase the speed of diagnosis for those who are suspected of having lung cancer. This AI technology will be able to automate routine assessments and be able to expedite patients who are more at risk by identifying chest x-rays which have suspicious findings and flagging those results whilst the patient is still in the department[gb1] .
To find out more about this new technology visit https://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/news/speeding-up-diagnosis-and-treatment-for-cancer-16134
We will be watching these developments in the new technology to see if this is able to impact the current wait times and how it effects patients.
In the meantime if you or your family members have experienced extended waiting times for diagnostic appointments Barts Health, and let us know too if you’ve had some great experiences; it’s good to share the positive too.
Let us know at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Join our upcoming Enter and View at St Bartholomew’s Hospital
In the upcoming weeks we will be conducting an Enter and View at St Batholomew’s Hospital. The Enter and View is based on your feedback about the issues surrounding communication at Barts, we will be reviewing their current administrative services and the impact it has on your care.
We currently have a survey out to further understand how patients have experienced the communications they have received.
You can access the survey here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BartsCardiology
If you are interested in taking part in this or any other Enter and View, please contact info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Full training and DBS checks will be provided.
Get involved at our future Board meetings in Public
Join us at our Board meetings in Public which we hold four times a month, where you can attend our meetings and find out what we are currently working on and our future plans. We also organise a range of guest speakers for our meetings to present and give their expert insight on Health and Social Care services in the City, important updates and you have the opportunity to pose any questions to them, directly. Is there something you would like to know more about? Let us know.
Check our events page to see which Board meetings in Public we have coming up here https://www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/events
Join us and Dr Chor at our next Board Meeting in Public
Join us for the our next Board meeting on Thursday 15th February at 6pm to 7.30pm. We are delighted that Dr Chor from the Neaman Practice will be joining us to give us the latest news from the Practice and you'll have the opportunity to ask questions.
Go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/join-us-for-our-board-meeting-in-public-with-dr-chor-tickets-818158733797?aff=erelexpmlt to sign up
Are you looking to stay active whilst having the opportunity to meet new people?
You can register now for Staying Steady, an organisation dedicated to delivering community-based fitness classes to those over the age of 55 with a focus on balance and strength.
One participants said ‘The classes keep me agile and motivate my physical wellbeing and my mind. It’s something to look forward to!’
To register visit Staying Steady — MRS Independent Living
New clinics helping patients access free dental care
You may be able to access free dental care if you live in north east London through a collaboration between Barts Health, Queen Mary University of London and the Community Health Partnership.
A new clinic has opened, the Kenworthy Road Dental Clinic, which will provide free dental services in Hackney and the surrounding area. The clinic will also be training 300 dental students each year who will be supported by qualified dentists and provide around 7,000 appointments each year.
To check out more visit New clinic helps more patients in need of dental care | Our news - Barts Health NHS Trust
Join Dragon Café in the City at their next activity day
Dragon Café in the City will be holding their next activity day on Wednesday 7 February with activities being held on zoom or Shoe Lane Library.
There will be DIY massage where you can learn to sooth your own tired muscles with sports massage therapist, Leonie Lawson or you can join in on Qi Gong, a new series that combines slow graceful movements with mental concentration.
For the full list of activities, visit www.mentalfightclub.art/whats-on
