1. Advice and Information -

    Waiting for planned medical care or surgery can be a frustrating time. That’s why it’s so important that while you wait, you get regular, clear and accessible updates so that you can plan your next steps.
  2. Advice and Information -

    Your mental wellness is as important as your physical health but seeking help can be daunting. Here's what to expect when you seek support for your mental health.
  3. Advice and Information -

    Do you or a loved one need help with social care? Read the article below and find out answers to key questions about who can access adult social care and how to pay for it.
  4. Advice and Information -

    The current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may cause you to feel worried, anxious, or scared. Read our tips to looking after your wellbeing when self-isolating.
  5. Advice and Information -

    With all the changes to health and care services, it's not always clear where you should go to report an urgent issue, to make a complaint or for further information.
  6. Advice and Information -

    Find out what you should do if you have symptoms of COVID-19, what local and national support is available to you and how you can help keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
  7. Advice and Information -

    Find out how health services are changing in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) and what that means for your care.
  8. Advice and Information -

    Find out why vaccinating yourself against COVID-19 is important, how you can get vaccinated in Lewisham, and more.
  9. Advice and Information -

    The Care Act 2014 is a law that came into action in April 2015 that sets out how people’s care and support is approached by councils.
  10. Advice and Information -

    The NHS in England has published a ten-year plan setting its priorities for the future.
  11. Advice and Information -

    All London residents can now create a personalised care plan that works for them.
  12. Advice and Information -

    The AskFirst app supports patients to get the right healthcare they need at the right time. The app is available to all patients in Lewisham.
  13. Advice and Information -

    The Lewisham Wellbeing Map is an interactive, community-led tool to help people find local locations and activities where they can connect, socialise, be active or learn in the London Borough of Lewisham.
  14. Advice and Information -

    Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing, and human rights, and enabling them to live away from harm, abuse, and neglect. It’s fundamental to high-quality health and social care.
  15. Advice and Information -

    A list of information and organisations with a downloadable guide at your convenience is located below.
  16. Advice and Information -

    This offers an online self-management course for African and Caribbean adults with Type 2 diabetes.
  17. Advice and Information -

    ‘Because We All Care’ encourages more people to feedback on their care. The next phase of our joint campaign with CQC is planned to start at the end of August. The phase will target people with long term conditions, and we will be taking a specific look at the barriers people face to getting specialist support via their GPs.

    Organisations such as ours are aware this has been going on for way too long.
  18. Advice and Information -

    Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) are generally made up of a group of volunteer patients, the practice manager and one or more of the GPs from the practice. Each GP Practice is required to have a PPG.

  19. Advice and Information -

    The local ICS developed a handy page where you can find out up-to-date waiting times for hospital outpatient services in south east London NHS hospitals.
  20. Advice and Information -

    King's Fund developed helpful information about how GPs in England are set up and commissioned.
  21. Report -

    In our first annual report, we talk about the privilege and challenge it has been to kickstart Healthwatch Lewisham and what we've achieved thus far.
  22. Report -

    The impact of COVID-19 and subsequent changes to health and care services means that representing the voice of local people is more important than ever.
  23. Report -

    We visited Penerley Lodge to talk to staff and residents about the care on offer. This report contains our findings and recommendations to the service after our visit.
  24. Report -

    Get the findings from our Digital Exclusion report December 2021 in an easy-to read infographic.
  25. Report -

    For this research project, we engaged with people who are more likely to be digitally excluded to gain a better understanding of how this might impact their experience with health and care services.
  26. Report -

    Between January and March 2021, our Youth Board engaged with young people to understand their emotional wellbeing needs and how they would prefer to access support.
  27. Report -

    This report focuses on Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority experiences of hospitals in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Lewisham and Waltham Forest between April 2020 and March 2021.
  28. Report -

    During the third COVID-19 lockdown, we heard from 1,141 people about their experiences with health and social care. Find out what they told us about local GPs, hospital, dentists and vaccination hubs by downloading our full report.
  29. Report -

    We carried out a virtual Enter & View visit to the Swallows Care Home in January 2021. During our visit, we spoke with staff and family members about what life has been like in the care home for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out what they said by downloading our full report.
  30. Report -

    The NHS is delivered the largest vaccination programme in its history with COVID-19 vaccines, which are being offered across the country to those most at risk of the virus. We carried out a research project to collect the experiences of Lewisham residents so local services can understand what is working and what can be improved with this programme.
  31. Report -

    This report focuses on residents' experiences of pharmacies in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Lewisham and Waltham Forest between October and December 2020.
  32. Report -

    This report explores residents' experiences of dental services in the London Boroughs of Bromley, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Lewisham and Waltham Forest between July and December 2020.
  33. Report -

    During October to December 2020, we heard from 910 patients, carers, and relatives regarding their experiences with local health and social care services. This report outlines the key themes, findings and recommendations that emerged from our conversations.
  34. Report -

    On Monday 15 December, Healthwatch Lewisham held its 2nd annual event. Over 110 people attended including over 35 representatives from organisations and community groups, a reflection of the powerful voice Healthwatch Lewisham provides for service users of health and social care locally.
  35. Report -

    Between April and October 2014, Healthwatch Lewisham has engaged with a variety of service users, carers, community and voluntary sector groups and staff, as well as the local residents in Lewisham to listen to their experiences of enablement and integrated care.
  36. Report -

    Over the past three months the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign and Healthwatch Lewisham, Carers Lewisham and others have collected over 100 stories gathered from users, clinicians and managers to find out from people’s personal experience what are the key features, the magic ingredients that make good community healthcare so valuable.
  37. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham gathered information on local people’s experience of discharge through community engagement, surveys and Enter and View visits. Over 200 patients, service users and carers contributed to the findings.
  38. Report -

    This report presents the findings of service user feedback collated from engagement sessions carried out at the Kaleidoscope Children’s Centre in Lewisham.
  39. Report -

    This report presents the findings of a review of service user feedback about the district nursing system in Lewisham. The purpose of the report is to assess the data collected about patients’ and carers’ experiences of the district nursing system.
  40. Report -

    Through our Patient Experience Programme, Healthwatch Lewisham was able to capture 1,177 patient reviews about local health and social care services between July – September 2021. Find out about what local residents told us about the health and care they receive by reading our report.
  41. Report -

    The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people access their GP with the further development of remote triage and booking systems. Service delivery in primary care continues to undergo changes and Healthwatch Lewisham wanted to understand what residents’ experiences have been like of since the national lockdown restrictions were lifted on 19 July 2021.
  42. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham is proud to be presenting the Quarter 4 Report. The report details the work we have done for the patient experience programme. This report is informative and gives great insight into the health and social care needs of the people within our community.
  43. Report -

    HWL Patient Experience Report Q3 summarising patient experience gathered that quarter.
  44. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham Annual Report 2021-2022
  45. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out a virtual visit on January 2022 over Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions. During our videocall, we spoke with staff and service users about their experiences and response to living conditions as well as COVID-19 precautions.
  46. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out an in-person visit on October 2021 after lockdown restrictions have been lifted on 19 July. During our visit, we spoke with staff, family, and service users about their experiences and response to living conditions as well as COVID-19 precautions.
  47. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out an in-person visit on March 2022 which followed accordingly to government guidance in February 2022 to return to face-to-face engagements. During our visit, we spoke with staff, family, and service users about their experiences and response to living conditions as well as COVID-19 precautions.