1. Healthwatch Central West London is changing!

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    Over the last nine years, Healthwatch Central West London (CWL) has delivered the Healthwatch function across Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea. As with most publicly funded contracts, these are put out to tender by the Local Authority on a regular basis, and potential providers are invited to apply.

  2. An update on COVID-19 vaccinations for children

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    The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. It gives you the best protection against COVID-19. Although COVID-19 is often mild in children, it can make some children unwell.

  3. Report shines a light on possibilities for future mental health provision in Westminster

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    The Voice Exchange was a project we ran throughout 2021. Commissioned by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, the project focused on speaking with people in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, to explore how mental health services in the bi-borough could look in the future.

  4. Listening to what’s important to young care leavers

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    Following an email exchange with the group lead, our Youth Engagement Manager, attended Westminster Council’s ‘Tuesday Group’ in March to run an engagement workshop that would start discussions with young care leavers.

  5. Community events to mark the five year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower Fire

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    Today marks the five year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire. This is an important day for our community and many local groups have organised events of commemoration and remembrance.

  6. How well are dental health services working for care home residents?

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    We have been carrying out engagement with care home residents, their family and friends, and staff across Westminster to find out how well dental care services are working for residents. Our engagement found mixed results.

  7. Survey: Shape the future of pharmacies

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    NHS England use a technical document called The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment to make decisions about applications to open new pharmacies or to change their locations within Kensington and Chelsea. A public survey has recently been launched to find out what local residents in Kensington & Chelsea think of local pharmacy services.

  8. The connection between young people and local GP practices: Young Healthwatch volunteers investigate…

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    Findings from our young people’s survey highlight a distinct lack of connection between young people and their GP practices (Primary Care) in a time when they need it more than ever.

  9. How you can influence decisions about the range, shape, and quality of services provided by your GP practice

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    If you are a patient or carer in any of the wards across Westminster or Kensington & Chelsea and are registered to a local GP, then the good news is you can join your GP practice Patient Participation Group (PPG).

  10. Young Healthwatch: 2022 Projects

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    From collaborating with local schools to auditing GP websites, discover how Young Healthwatch is exploring and representing the needs of young people in Kensington & Chelsea.

  11. Accessing digital healthcare: how well are digital health tools working?

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    We have published a new report, ‘Accessing Healthcare Digitally’. The report sets out the findings from our recent community engagement on the accessibility of digital healthcare tools. It also contains a comprehensive set of recommendations for service providers, designed to ensure that digital healthcare tools become as accessible and user-friendly as possible.

  12. Thank you to everyone who came to our Annual Meeting

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    On Tuesday 7th December, we held our 2021 Annual Meeting.
    We brought together over 60 members, volunteers, staff, local colleagues, community partners, and members of the public to showcase our work and plan our priorities for the coming year.

  13. How we’re collaborating with Imperial College London to raise awareness of local health inequalities

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    Last month we were delighted to continue our relationship with Imperial College London by hosting four third-year medical students for a workshop on health inequalities and the work of local Healthwatch.

  14. Consulting with the Filipino Community in collaboration with Sport4Health

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    Over the past two years, collaborating with local groups has become an essential part of our work through our Small Grants Programme. It enables us to connect with people from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds and minority groups.

  15. Our Impact: new booklet available

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    Alongside this year’s Annual report, we have created an A5 booklet that shares the impact of our work, with a focus on tackling health inequalities and improving local services.

  16. Have your say about contacting your GP practice online

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    Online GP consultations have become more common since the COVID-19 pandemic, when many GP practices were physically closed to patients. Some online systems have now been expanded, with patients able to see their GP online for anything from a routine consultation to non-urgent medical advice, or support with a long-term condition.

  17. Improving dental and oral health in care homes: new research project

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    We’ve been hearing from a number of care home residents in Westminster and RBKC about the difficulties they have when trying to access dental care. This got us thinking about how dental care is managed in care homes.

  18. Vaccination: now offered to 12-15 year olds in schools

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    The vaccine is now being offered to all 12 to 15-year-olds and the NHS will be delivering the vaccination through schools. Schools are contacted with students of this age to arrange a date to vaccinate their students.

  19. International Influence: strengthening local health and care for young people

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    Our work is focused on giving local people a voice in health and care; however, we also like to share when our work gets mentioned internationally…

  20. We are piloting an exciting new student engagement project with the North West London Schools Research Network

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    Healthwatch Central West London will collaborate with the North West London Schools Research Network to pilot a new student engagement project in schools across North West London.

  21. We take on a leading role in a new pilot project to reduce health inequalities nationwide with Healthwatch England

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    Imagine a project that not only facilitates conversation and idea-sharing between Healthwatch branches across the country, it also plays an important part in removing barriers that may prevent engagement work with minority ethnic groups and other minority groups…

  22. Homecare: helping our local councils to understand what needs to change…

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    In our first ‘in-person’ event after lockdown restrictions eased, we brought together people who receive home care, relatives, unpaid carers, and workers from Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea Councils for a workshop on improving local home care services.

  23. Digital Healthcare: hearing from minority ethnic groups locally

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    For the past 8 months, we have been carrying out public engagement in collaboration with a range of grassroots partnerships to understand how people have been using health services and healthcare support ‘online’. Using health services in this way is becoming known as Digital Healthcare*.

  24. Helping Garway patients to understand what’s happening to their data

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    We were delighted to work with the Garway Medical Practice Patient Participation Group (PPG) earlier this month to help Garaway patients to understand the issues surrounding General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR).

  25. What does the lifting of most restrictions mean for local health services?

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    On Monday 19th July, the UK Government lifted most COVID-19 restrictions in England. This has been called ‘Freedom Day’ by some people. So, what has changed, and how will this affect hospitals, GP practices, and other health services in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea?

  26. How we adapted to the pandemic: reflections from two members of our team

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    It has now been over a year since the first nationwide lockdown in the UK. While the UK was facing its biggest public health emergency in a generation, established working practices and patient engagement approaches had to be altered and new ideas had to be put in place.

  27. Digital health: how translation services can be improved

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    As the NHS moves more services online, we have been speaking to local patients, residents, and carers about how well digital tools work for them

  28. Have you used mental health services recently? We want to hear from you…

    News -

    On Saturday 10 July, the Voice Exchange project will be hosting their next virtual drop-in session. This is an open discussion where you can share your thoughts and suggestions about local mental health services in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea.

  29. Catch up on our work: Annual Report 2020-21

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    The theme of this year’s report is ‘Then and Now’.  It’s been designed to highlight how our work in 2020-21 has helped local patients, residents, and carers engage with changes to health and social care provision during the pandemic.

  30. Exploring the exclusivity of digital healthcare

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    The NHS is currently following a digital first strategy. From GP appointments to physiotherapy, many services are being moved online. Accessing services online is often called ‘digital health’.

  31. Statement on the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.

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    We are committed to equality, inclusion, and fairness. We are opposed to all forms of racism, discrimination, and prejudice.

  32. How our Small Grants Programme helped community organisations in 2020

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    In January 2020, we launched our Small Grants Programme – a first of its kind project for our organisation. We wanted to reach people in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea who find it hardest to be heard in conversations about health and social care. We awarded the recipients of our grant £500 to complete engagement with groups from these communities.

  33. What have we learnt from our recent COVID-19 engagement work with LEGS?

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    We have published a COVID-19 insight report in collaboration with LEGS. The report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on those who have had a stroke or who are living with a neurological condition.

  34. ‘Bridging the Gap’: mental health survey of young people

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    We are looking for young people between the ages of 16-25 to respond to their consultation on local mental health services.

  35. Our statement in response to the NHS consultation on the future of the Integrated Care Systems

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    Healthwatch Central West London has today published a response to NHS England’s consultation on the future of Integrated Care Systems

  36. Update on support available for young people with SEND

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    Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea have shared an update for parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) on the support available during the current lockdown.

  37. Thank you to everyone who attended our virtual Annual Meeting

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    Last week we were excited to host our first virtual Annual Meeting.
    We brought together over 80 Healthwatch Central West London members, stakeholders, volunteers, staff, trustees, external colleagues and local people to present our annual report and showcase our work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we could not meet in person, we had a fantastic turnout, and it was great to see so many familiar faces.

  38. What have we learnt from recent engagement work on COVID-19?

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    We have published a COVID-19 insight report in collaboration with Breathe Easy Westminster. The report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on those living with a long-term respiratory condition.

  39. Your experience matters: how have you been affected by the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak?

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    This week we have launched an updated version of our survey Coronavirus: Your Experience Matters.

  40. Improving public health messaging: what we have learnt from recent engagement work

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    At the moment, awareness of public health messaging is particularly important. A key part of our role at Healthwatch Central West London is raising awareness of Government and NHS public health messaging and working to ensure these messages are available to everybody.

  41. How the pandemic is changing the training we offer

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    The way we carry out our work has changed substantially over the past eight months. We are not in the office anymore and have not been since March.

  42. Learning lessons from the lock down: how we use technology

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    As we adapt to living with COVID-19 long-term, technology has become increasingly central to how many of us communicate. With opportunities for face-to-face interaction limited, technology like video calling software has provided somewhat of an alternative. From doctors’ appointments to family catch-ups, how we communicate, receive information, and interact with others has changed considerably.

  43. Disability Confident Employer

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    We are pleased to announce that we are an accredited Disability Confident Employer.

  44. Your Experience Matters Survey – experiences of people identifying as Black Asian and minority ethnic residents - latest findings

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    We have surveyed people about how they have been affected by COVID-19. We wanted to highlight the experiences of those who responded to our survey who identified as being from a minority ethnic group.