1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. Disability Confident Employer

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

  8. 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.

  9. The latest update documents from our COVID-19 engagement

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    We have been asking you to tell us how COVID-19 has affected you and your loved ones.
    We all know by now that there is much more to the impact of this pandemic than catching COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

  10. We’re on a mission to reach residents who are not online

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    The most important part of our work is listening to local experiences of health and social care. It influences the information we publish, the resources we produce, and the recommendations that we share with local NHS providers. We want to reach more people who do not have digital access: this means email, social media, and even this website you’re looking at right now.

  11. PPGs are responding to Coronavirus outbreak

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    During the Coronavirus outbreak, many PPGs suspended their activities allowing practice staff to focus on health emergency. However, most proactive PPGs continued working and were creative in their approach.

  12. How do you feel about visiting GP surgeries, as lockdown eases?

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    The Patients Association is currently carrying out a survey to find out how patients feel about visiting GP surgeries as lockdown eases.

  13. Q&A Discussion: your experiences and recommendations for mental health services

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    We want to speak to local users of NHS mental health services in Central North West London about how local care can address their protected characteristics.

  14. Young people’s experiences of mental health before and during the COVID-19 outbreak

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    The latest results from Young Healthwatch’s ongoing survey with young people in London is here: YHW Mental Health Survey Final.
    When we first began reaching out to young people in 2019 (between the ages of 14 and 25) who were living, working or studying in Westminster, we wanted them to tell us about the health and social care issues that mattered the most to them.

  15. Creative resilience workshops for young Londoners

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    Join a series of online workshops facilitated by The Fandangoe Kid, a Hackney-based print artist, to explore challenges and issues facing young people.

  16. Call NHS 111 before turning up to your local A&E

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    The pre-booking process, using the NHS’s triage line, will allow A&E departments to be managed more efficiently and reduce waiting times. The NHS is to pilot a “call first” model of Accident & Emergency which could be rolled out across the country, health chiefs have said, as reported in The Telegraph.

  17. Our 2020 Annual Report has landed

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    Our Annual Report is here!

  18. What multi ethnic communities say about COVID-19 and the response to the pandemic

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    Your Experience Matters
    In April this year, we launched Your Experience Matters, our most comprehensive survey to date, in which we asked residents to share their experiences of the COVID-19 outbreak.

  19. Insights from Black Asian and ethnic minority communities: community wellbeing and primary care services

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    We are pleased to share our latest report, Insights from BAME Communities in Central West London 2020, which presents the views of 73 individuals from BAME communities, who we held focus groups with, in partnership with BME Health Forum, last year.

  20. Small Grants awarded to five organisations

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    In January, we launched our first ever small grants project.