Healthwatch City of London June Newsletter
Chat from the Chair
Welcome to our June newsletter which is packed with lots of information and news including events for you to join us at. We hope you are going to be joining us for our Health in the City event in partnership with the Neaman Practice on Saturday, 29 June, where you will have the chance to meet those working in the practice including two of their GPs, Dr Chor and Dr Hillier. We will also be joined by the NHS Cancer Alliance, Diabetes UK, Family Information Services from the City of London, Forget Me Not Café, and City Carers Community. We are making a bit of a do of it so there’s facepainting and balloon animals for the kids! Come and join us on Saturday, 29 June from 10am to 1pm, we cannot wait to see you there.
We have launched our Annual Survey, which gives you the opportunity to let us know how we have been doing over the past year, we use your feedback to make improvements where needed, build on what’s good and develop new areas of work. Your thoughts help us to serve you. More information on where to access the survey is down below.
Our summer Patient Panels are continuing in July with Ellie Ward, Head of Strategy and Performance Department of Community and Children’s Services at the City of London Corporation. She will be presenting the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the City and is looking for feedback from City residents.
In September we will be holding a second Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training session; our last CPR session was oversubscribed. Knowing how to do CPR and having basic life saving training is an essential skill that the London Ambulance Service (LAS) is pressing for every Londoner to know, and we know the difference it can make. We are planning to continue these sessions and hope to get wider sponsorship.
Our Enter and View with St Bartholomew’s Hospital is quickly approaching, and on June 13 we will be going to the cardiology department at the hospital to directly see how the administrative process works and to better understand why you have the issues you do with communication. If you have not done so already then help us to better understand what is going on by completing our survey
We look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming events,
Gail
Chair, Healthwatch City of London
Our upcoming events
Meet the Neaman Practice
On Saturday 29 June we are holding our first Health in the City event at the Golden Lane Community Centre from 10am – 1pm. In conjunction with the Neaman Practice the event will showcase health and wellbeing services that are available to you as City residents. As mentioned before in the Chairs chat, GPs, Dr Chor and Dr Hillier will be joining us and are looking forward to meeting you and telling you a bit more about the Practice that you may not already know as well as taking any questions relating to the Practice. The Together Better programme will also be joining us on the day, they are a wellbeing service that bring people together with a focus on health and wellbeing by offering arts and crafts, coffee mornings and organised walks.
We also have many local services joining us, we will be joined by City Advice who provide advice for City residents, workers and students on benefits, housing, debt, employment rights and family issues. We will also be joined by the NHS North East London Cancer Alliance who will be providing information on cancer screening, information for patients and families as well as will be able to answer any questions you may have. City Carers Community are going to be there too, a voluntary organisation who provide support to unpaid carers in the City of London through fortnightly sessions bringing people together to talk about their experiences. Come and meet The Forget Me Not Café who work to provide older people, people with dementia and people with mental and physical health and wellbeing issues with support through promoting social and physical health and wellbeing activities.
Representatives from the City of London Adult services and the Childrens services team will on hand to answer any queries you have about their services too.
For the little ones, and young at heart there will be goody bags, face painters and balloon artists!
It promises to be a great and informative day, so do join us.
Patient Panels
Our patient panel series are designed to enable you to become better informed about services and meet those providing. You will be able to leave the session with important and valuable information on specific services whilst a guest speaker gains valuable insights about concerns that you might have about their service. Refreshments are always provided, and it is a chance to meet your neighbours.
Health and Wellbeing Strategy with the City of London Corporation
In July, we will be joined by Ellie Ward, Head of Strategy and Performance for the Department of Community and Children’s Services at the City of London Corporation. She will be presenting the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the City. Ellie is passionate about making sure City residents receive the services we need; she will be delighted to get some feedback on the strategy from local community members.
Join us on Friday, 12 July at the Golden Lane Community Centre from 10:30am to 12pm, refreshments will be provided.
Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training with the London Ambulance Service (LAS)
CPR can be the difference between life and death. The LAS conduct training sessions that will teach you how to carry out CPR, use a defibrillator and to provide basic lifesaving information in order to prepare you for critical situations that can happen on any day.
After a great CPR training session with the LAS in early March, which was oversubscribed , we are holding another session on Friday 6 September from 10am to 12pm at the Golden Lane Community Centre.
To sign up, please visit www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/events
Our Patient Panels are here to give you the information you need on Health and Social Care in the City. We invite in experts that are able to share and highlight important issues in the City and that may directly impact you, if you would like to hear any information on particular topics, please let us know by emailing us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Feedback from the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Wellbeing Patient Panel
At our recent Patient Panel on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Wellbeing, we were joined by Froeks Kamminga, Senior Public Health Specialist at Public Health City and Hackney. Froeks took us through Public Health City and Hackney’s new report[gb2] , ‘Sexually Healthy.’ She explained the report’s focus areas, such as living well with HIV and the goal towards zero new HIV cases, preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the importance of working with vulnerable populations and those with complex needs.
In the session, Froeks also spoke on what health services you can access in the City for your sexual health as well as promoting online services for STI treatment kits, routine contraception, and emergency hormonal contraception.
You can access the online services at Sexual Health London
Check out other resources here
- LARC map and self-referral for LARC
- What to expect when you go to a sexual health clinic
- General sexual health info and advice
- What is PrEP? Women for Women
- Young people and sexual health
Give your opinions on us with our Annual Survey
Today we are launching our Annual Survey to help us better understand how you see us and how well we serve you. This is an opportunity for you to give us feedback on how you think we are doing in our role as the independent champion, to complete the survey visit https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/HWCOLresidentsannualsurvey2024/
If you would like the survey printed or know someone who would, please email us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk or you can call us on 020 3745 9563 and we will deliver the survey directly to you.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital Cardiology Enter and View
Have you had issues with communications from St Bartholomew’s Hospital? We have had feedback from patients about poor communication in particular cardiology, ranging from lack of details on appointment letters, including crucial information such as dates, times, or the location of where the appointment is being held. Patients have also received both a text message and a letter with contrary details with no information on who to call to confirm their appointment.
Has this happened to you?
Based on your feedback we are conducting an Enter and View at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in their Cardiology department to better understand the reasons behind the negative feedback.
What is Enter and View? As a local Healthwatch we have the statutory power to Enter and View, a legal right to visit places that provide publicly funded health or care services, to see and hear how people experience the services.
This gives us the opportunity to:
- Collect the opinions and experiences of people using these services, their carers, or relatives.
- Talk to staff who are providing care
- See the nature and quality of services
- Develop insights and make recommendations to improve care.
Complete our survey and share your views www.surveymonkey.com/r/BartsCardiology. If you cannot access the survey digitally or know someone who can’t please email us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk or give us a call on 020 3745 9563 and we can arrange for a paper copy to be sent.
Love them or hate them? How do you feel about NHS Digital apps
Our Digital Apps Project is now well underway; exploring the current ways in which you can access your care and information using your digital devices. Our preliminary work has already identified that it is possible to have nine NHS apps on your phone, including the NHS App, Patient Knows Best portal, MY chart and the Dr IQ app. We will be seeking to understand how each app and platform communicates with each other, how accessible and easy they are to use and how you are able to access your services and very importantly, what happens if you are unable to use these apps and portals.
What would you like to see improved? Let us know via our survey, https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DigitalAppsSurvey. There will be copies of the survey available in the Golden Lane and Portsoken Community Centres and libraries including the Barbican Library, Shoe Lane Library, and the Artizan Library.
If you or you know someone who would like one mailed to you, please give us a call on 020 3745 9563 or email info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk.
Putting Carers on the Map, Carers Week 10 to 16 June, 2024
There were 496 self-identified carers in the City of London at the last Census, which makes up 6% of our population, Are you one or do you know somebody who is? You may be looking after a family member, friend or neighbour. Often unpaid and often hidden their support is vital to not only those who they directly support, but for the whole community.
The theme for Carers Week 2024 is 'Putting Carers on the Map’ and is an annual campaign to raise awareness of the challenges that unpaid carers face whilst recognising the huge value and support that they provide to their community.
In the City, City Carers Community and Carers Connections have joined up to create a week filled with fun and enjoyable activities. City Residents and particularly those of you with caring responsibilities are invited to join in events. A week which focuses on events and support for any resident who may help a friend, neighbour, spouse, or family member regularly, many on our estate do not recognise this support as being a "carer".
You are welcome to join in even if this is your first. To check out the schedule visit PDF Carers week 2024 timetable-1.pdf or email citycarerscommunity@gmail.com for information. The daytime and event sessions on Thursday 13 are open to anyone, you do not have to be a resident in the City.
Join City Connections groups and activities
City Connections is a local organisation that is able to link you to health services in the City where you can access support such as for your mental and physical health, supporting you with the cost of living crisis and issues surrounding housing, amongst many other support services.
They also offer different support groups that you might be interested in as well as activities that promote your health and wellbeing. Every week they hold a women’s support group, where local women come together to do an activity whilst getting to know each other, there is also a men’s support group held fortnightly where men across the City come together to share and foster meaningful relationships whilst playing table tennis.
To check out the full calendar and all of their events, visit Calendar | City Connections
Want to stay active whilst meeting 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 participant said ‘The classes keep me agile and motivate my physical wellbeing and my mind. It is something to look forward to!’
To register visit Staying Steady — MRS Independent Living
