Healthwatch City of London September 2024 Newsletter

Our upcoming events 

Join us at our Patient Panel series 

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 that may directly impact you. If you have a particular issue or topic that you would like to hear about, please let us know by emailing us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk

Our recent Patient Panels

City of London Corporation’s new Health and Wellbeing strategy with Ellie Ward

On Friday, 12 July we held a Patient Panel on the City of London Corporation’s new Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy with Ellie Ward, Head of Strategy and Performance at the City of London Corporation. 

It was an informative session with Ellie taking attendees through the new Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, creating an understanding of the importance of a joint strategy and the priorities which include; 

• Building financial resilience - whilst unemployment in the City is relatively low, this priority involves supporting people to increase their opportunities in employment and ensuring that people are able to financially support themselves through hardship

• Tackling social isolation and building social connection - there are many in the City who are currently struggling with feeling lonely and being isolated, particularly for those who are older. 

• Improving mental health - in which the City of London Corporation strive to ensure that people are promoting good mental health and wellbeing and that there are adequate support services that people are able to access when they need to.

Following the presentation, Ellie facilitated an active discussion and attendees gave their thoughts on the strategy and its priorities, as well as the general health and wellbeing in the City. The priorities of the strategy include:

Read about the session here, https://www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/report/2024-08-15/patient-pa…

City of London Corporation’s new SEND consultation with Hannah Dobbin and Ellie Ward  

We held a Patient Panel on the City of London Corporation’s new Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Strategy with Hannah Dobbin, Strategy and Projects officer and Ellie Ward, Head of Strategy and Performance at the City of London Corporation. 

 Key messages include

• The strategy was co-produced with the Parent Carer Forum, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, NHS North East London and NHS East London NHS Foundation Trust. 
• The vision for the strategy is taken from the City of London’s Children and Young People’s Plan 2022-25:

              The City of London is a place where all children and young people feel safe, 

              have good mental health and wellbeing, fulfil their potential and are ready 

              for adulthood whilst growing up with a sense of belonging.

The five draft priorities as follows: 

1.           Children and young people with SEND and their families get the right help, at the right time.

2.           Young people with SEND and parent carers are supported during key transition points, including preparation for adulthood.

3.           Children and young people with SEND and their families are supported and enabled by a skilled, valued workforce.

4.           Children and young people with SEND and their families feel recognised, valued and part of their local community.

5.           Children and young people experience high quality, appropriate alternative provision when needed

The consultation has been extended to 2^nd September, you can submit your response here, Local Offer - City of London

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. 

We are holding another session on Friday 6 September from 10am to 12pm at the Golden Lane Community Centre. 

The CPR training is currently booked out; however, you can join our waiting list by email info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk

We know how keen people are to learn more about CPR and life saving skills so we will be working to see how we can improve access to CPR training across the City.

Understanding Diabetes and how to access services with Diabetes UK

Join us and Diabetes UK on Thursday, 21^st November, from 10:30am to 12pm on zoom. Diabetes UK will be helping you to gain a better understanding of diabetes, how it can affect your health and how to navigate the NHS when you have or are caring for someone that has diabetes. Most importantly what’s available in the City. 

Diabetes currently affects a large amount of people, with 4.4 million people in the UK living with diabetes, and Diabetes UK estimating that an additional 1.2 million people could be living with type 2 diabetes who are yet to be diagnosed. In north east London there are over 129,000 people living with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a condition where your blood glucose level is too high. There are 2 main types of diabetes and whilst the symptoms can depend on the type of diabetes you have, the common symptoms include 

• Going to the toilet a lot, especially at night 
• Being really thirsty 
• Feeling more tired than usual 
• Losing weight without trying to 
• Genital itching or thrush 
• Cuts and wounds take longer to heal 
• Blurred vision

Taking care of your health if you are diabetic is very important so please do join us to hear more. 

For more information on the signs and symptoms and complications of diabetes, please visit the NHS website.

Where to get support

If you are worried you may have diabetes, speak to your GP for advice. They can advise you on how to get a diagnosis and the support that would be available to you to help manage your condition. 

You should also attend your free NHS Health Check when invited. They are available every 5 years to anyone aged 40 to 74, and can tell you whether you’re at higher risk of getting certain health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes. If you are unsure if you are due a check, contact your GP.

NHS North East London fund a number of services to help people reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and to manage their weight if they already have type 2 diabetes.

Find out more about these services in their service directory. 

If you would like to hear any information on particular topics, please let us know by emailing us at info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk

Our campaign for a North East London Men’s Health Strategy 

We will soon be launching a campaign to support the development of a Men’s Health Strategy for North East London; we know that men are less likely to seek help in regards to their physical and mental health and we are seeking to further understand what resources and services in the City need to enable men to seek help. 

 Working with members of our local community who are passionate about men’s health we will be asking our partners in local health services and the City of London to support this work and our call to action! Let us know if this interests you and if you would like to be involved, email info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk 

Our Annual Public  Meeting – hear more about us 

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Friday, 18 October between 10am and 12pm at St Giles Cripplegate. Our guest speakers are Court of Common Councillor Mary Durcan, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board and Dr Sue Mann, National Clinical Director for Women’s Health. 

We will also be giving an overview of our successes last year and talking about our upcoming priorities and how they impact you. There will be information stalls from 9:30am to 10am and from 12pm, so you can hear directly from local health services and organisations. 

You will have the opportunity to ask questions directly to both our speakers. 

Refreshments will be provided both before and after.

St Bartholomew’s Hospital Cardiology Enter and View 

We recently conducted an Enter and View at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, undertaken as a result of feedback from patients about poor levels of communication in particular in the cardiology department. 

In June, our team, with a group of volunteers, went to St Bartholomew’s Hospital and spoke to the  managers and staff responsible for the communications and administration of cardiology appointments. We followed up the Enter and View by interviewing patients in the outpatient’s department, which was able to give us more insight and depth into the patient experience. 

The findings alongside our recommendations will be published in a report later in October. You will be able to read this on our website, www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/news-and-reports.

We would like to thank the team at St Bartholomew’s Hospital for their support and engagement with our Enter and View and we look forward to collaborating closely with them in the future. 

An update on our Digital Apps project 

We are currently in the final stages of our Digital Apps project, in which we have explored the ways in which you can access your care and information using your digital devices. We received a large amount of responses to our survey and have had interesting and lively focus group sessions. Most notably we have heard the significant number of barriers and obstacles that patients and carers have had to go through to access their health services and information. 

The report will be published in the upcoming months and we look forward to sharing our feedback and recommendations.

Get the chance to assess your local hospital with PLACE 

 A great opportunity to inspect our local hospitals and help make services better for those who use and work in them. Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) are taking place in September to October with assessments at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Royal London Hospital, Newham University Hospital and Whipps-cross University Hospital. 

Volunteers will review the hospital with a member of staff and rating each space based on specific areas. The areas reviewed in the assessments include ward food, privacy, dignity and wellbeing, disability, dementia, estates condition, appearance and maintenance and cleanliness. 

This really is a great opportunity to make a difference so please do sign up.

If you’re interested in taking part in these assessments, email Reza Miah at reza.miah1@nhs.net for more information. 

Reducing waiting times for patients in north east London

Around 7000 people facing long waiting times for their planned procedure will be offered the choice of appointments with a shorter waiting time. This is possible as hospitals are collaborating to schedule extra elective operations. 

It means that patients needing planned treatment could be offered a slot at any one of eight acute hospitals based on clinical priority and waiting times.

The arrangement between the Barts Health group, Homerton Healthcare, and Barking Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) will help each trust meet the national ambition to have no-one waiting more than 65 weeks for planned care by the end of September.

This capacity plan is one example of how in north east London, NHS organisations are increasingly supporting each other to become more resilient in providing both elective and emergency care.

Are you currently waiting for an appointment or procedure?

Waiting for your appointment or procedure can be stressful and can impact your health and wellbeing. Here are some useful tips from the NHS to stay well while you wait:

• Increase your activity levels to improve strength and recovery.
• Quit smoking to reduce chance of complications during surgery and recover quicker.
• Eat a healthy balanced diet to support healing and fight off infection.
• Don’t drink more than the  recommended limits .
• Local Talking Therapies services can offer a range of help.
• Learn how to control long-term health conditions such as asthma , diabetes or high blood pressure .

Update on the Homerton Healthcare Gynaecology Outpatient and Diagnostic services

Homerton Healthcare Gynaecology Outpatient and Diagnostic services have moved locations as part of the upgrade and expansion of Homerton’s elective and surgical hub. The services that are currently being provided in the Tuke Ward Women’s Health Centre have now moved to their new site. Patients will be able to access the new location via the current Day Stay Unit (DSU) entrance), which is on the left side of the building the Women’s Health Centre is located in.

You can check out this map, Gynae move route map (homerton.nhs.uk) to show the walking routes to the new location.  

Population Health and Inequalities Showcase 

Join Population Health Hub for there Population Health and Inequalities showcase- a follow up event from their Inequalities showcase in January 2023.

This will be for anyone interested in or working on the reduction of inequalities or population health in City and Hackney. The showcase will provide an opportunity for people to share and discuss work happening in the area, and allow people to make connections to support their work. If you are interested in learning more about the work that is being done in inequalities and population health in the City and Hackney, join them on Thursday 12 September from 6:30pm to 9pm at Hackney Church, E5 0PD. 

Refreshments will be provided! Register here: Population Health and Inequalities Showcase Tickets, Thu, Sep 12, 2024 at 6:30 PM | Eventbrite

Want your say on the new contract for annual physical health care review?

City and Hackney Integrated Care Board (ICB) funds GP surgeries to do annual physical health care reviews on certain groups of patients with long term mental illness. This contract will be renewed in April 2025 and the team want to ensure that patient voices are shaping the new contract where it is possible to do so. 

Is this something that you could help with? The ICB would really value your help so if you could answer the questionnaire to help them understand your experiences it will give them a better chance  to shape the contract to best suit patients needs. 

Please answer ALL questions in Part 1 and 2. This questionnaire is anonymous.

Access the survey here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/X2W3IN/ 

Complete the North East London NHS survey on the future of maternity and neonatal care and win a £50 shopping voucher

Recently we have heard about problems and issues in maternity care across the country now  the North East London Integrated Care Board wants to hear from you about how they can improve care for pregnant women, their partners, parents, babies and their families. 

NHS North East London is asking for feedback from local people on their findings from a review into the future of maternity and neonatal services. The review shows that there needs to be some changes to maternity and neonatal services and there are opportunities to make sure their services remain safe, high quality and accessible for all.

How you can have your say

Please read the information on their website, Have your say on the future of maternity and neonatal care - NHS North East London (icb.nhs.uk) and tell them what you think by filling in the online survey by 11.59pm on 8 September 2024.  

Keeping cool during the warm weather 

Cool spaces are indoor spaces for Londoners to shelter from the sun, cool down, rest and take respite on hot days. With the upcoming warm weather, check out the Cool spaces map.

All spaces appear on the Cool spaces map, which is live 1 June - 30 September. This aligns with heat-health alerting season, as per the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)'s Adverse Weather and Health Plan.

Check out the spaces here: Cool spaces | London City Hall

Cost of Living Support for your council tax 

East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) have released a helpful guide for everyone  who  pays council tax. The guide goes through what council tax support is available, this includes details of discounts and exemptions, how much you may be able to have discounted from your bill, and how to protect your Council Tax Support if you migrate to Universal Credit.

Access the guide here: Cost of living | East London NHS Foundation Trust (elft.nhs.uk)