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.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.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.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.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.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.Advice and Information -
Find out how health services are changing in response to coronavirus (COVID-19) and what that means for your care.Advice and Information -
Find out why vaccinating yourself against COVID-19 is important, how you can get vaccinated in Lewisham, and more.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.Advice and Information -
All London residents can now create a personalised care plan that works for them.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.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.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.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.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.
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.Advice and Information -
King's Fund developed helpful information about how GPs in England are set up and commissioned.Advice and Information -
Do you struggle to speak to your doctor about your medical concerns? You’re not alone. Take a look at our top tips to make the most out of your GP appointment.Report -
In the 2014 - 2015 report, we share our work to understand people's experiences and improve key areas of focus based on feedback from community members.Report -
This year we started our #30DaysofHealthwatch campaign and heard from 74 percent more people than last year.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.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.Report -
Get the findings from our Digital Exclusion report December 2021 in an easy-to read infographic.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.Report -
Last year, Beechcroft Care Home received a "requires improvement" rating by the Care Quality Commission. The care home was also flagged up by the Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board. Therefore, we decided to carry out an Enter and View there to gather the views of the residents and staff members.Report -
/report/2018-07-31/men-talk-healthReport -
We embarked on a project which built on our previous work, to see whether patient experience has improved following the introduction of AIS. We also assessed local implementation of the Standard.Report -
We carried out Enter and View visits at University Hospital Lewisham (UHL) to assess how the AIS has been implemented. We made two separate visits to the Accident & Emergency, Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology and Ambulatory Care departments at UHL.Report -
As part of our AIS project, we engaged with 12 GP surgeries in the borough, to understand how they have complied with AIS. We chose to focus on these selected GPs as they had a high number of patients with sensory and learning disabilities.Report -
During the last year, we carried out Food for Thought - a project wanting to find out how much young people in Lewisham understood about healthy eating. Residents had told us that they felt this was a major issue for us to look into. The borough has a high proportion of children identified at risk of obesity.Report -
We visited Brymore House to talk to residents and staff about the care they received. This report contains our findings and recommendations we put to the service after our visit.Report -
Across Lewisham, there is a growing demand for residential and nursing provision for older people, as well as ‘considerate unmet need’ around carers’ provision in the borough. In light of this we embarked on a project across the London Borough of Lewisham looking into the social care needs and experiences of the population.Report -
We carried out a visit looking at the care and support provided at 55 Broadfield Road, Catford by Waterfield Supported Homes. The service provides personal care, support and accommodation for five people with mental health needs. We spoke with residents, family members and staff about their experience of the residential care home.Report -
We attended this event to raise awareness of the Self Care week and importance of self-care and to encourage stakeholders to take part in the campaign and to encourage self-care to their service users.Report -
One in four Lewisham residents is under 19 years old. Healthwatch Lewisham has a responsibility to engage with children, young people as well as parents and carers to find out what they think of the local health and social care services.
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Healthwatch Lewisham contacted the leader of Lewisham’s Diabetes UK Support Group to find out about the experiences of the group’s members using community care services as part of an Inquiry into Community Care Services.
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The aim of the project is to promote wellbeing and signpost public as appropriate to the services available for respiratory disseises sufferers through Breathing Well Champions volunteer outreach role.Report -
Healthwatch Lewisham visited residential homes with supported care and day centres for people with learning disabilities to assess if service users were being treated with dignity and respect, if they felt listened to and understood by their service providers and to see if services were person centred.Report -
Healthwatch Lewisham has been working closely with the Parent and Carer Forum as part of a consortium of CVS organisations who provide support, advice and signposting and information at the Kaleidoscope Children’s centre in Catford.Report -
Find out what patients told us about their experiences of health and social care services in Lewisham during July-September. Our report covers engagement with refugees, as well as in-depth conversations about mental health.Report -
Read our summarised intelligence report which highlights the key themes from our Accessible Information Standard Report, Healthy Eating Report, Social Care Report and much much more.