1. Our Impact: new booklet available

    News -

    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.

  2. Have your say about contacting your GP practice online

    News -

    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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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…

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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…

  8. 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.

  9. 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*.

  10. 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).

  11. 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?

  12. 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.

  13. 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

  14. 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.

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

    News -

    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.

  16. Exploring the exclusivity of digital healthcare

    News -

    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’.

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

    News -

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

  18. 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.

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

    News -

    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.

  20. ‘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.

  21. 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

  22. Update on support available for young people with SEND

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

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

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

    News -

    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.

  27. How the pandemic is changing the training we offer

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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.

  29. Disability Confident Employer

    News -

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

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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).

  32. 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.

  33. 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.

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

    News -

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

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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.

  37. Creative resilience workshops for young Londoners

    News -

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

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

    News -

    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.

  39. Our 2020 Annual Report has landed

    News -

    Our Annual Report is here!

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

    News -

    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.

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

    News -

    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.

  42. Small Grants awarded to five organisations

    News -

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

  43. What is monkeypox and what are the symptoms?

    Advice and Information -

    The UK Health Security (UKHSA) is investigating a number of cases of Monkeypox in England. UKHSA is rapidly investigating the source of these infections because the evidence suggests that there may be transmission of the Monkeypox virus in the community, spread by close contact.

  44. Why get involved?

    Advice and Information -

    If you have an hour to spare or you’re looking for a longer-term role as a volunteer, we offer a wide range of ways to get involved, from representing us at events, circulating surveys, or assessing the delivery of local health and care services.

  45. Join our Young Healthwatch Volunteers!

    Advice and Information -

    Volunteering roles are available for young people aged 18-25!