1. Advice and Information -

    People have told us they can have problems registering with a GP. This article explains more about your rights and what do to if you are refused the right to register.
  2. Advice and Information -

    Four questions staff should ask you or a loved one about your oral health if you’re a care home resident, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quick guide.
  3. Advice and Information -

    We've pulled together a number of services for parents in need of support for their mental health. Read more to find out where you can go to get the help you need.
  4. Advice and Information -

    Find out what support is available to help you when travelling to your GP, hospital or other NHS services.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Advice and Information -

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

    Find out why vaccinating yourself against COVID-19 is important, how you can get vaccinated in Lewisham, and more.
  10. 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.
  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 -

    ‘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.
  16. 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.

  17. 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.
  18. Advice and Information -

    King's Fund developed helpful information about how GPs in England are set up and commissioned.
  19. Advice and Information -

    How can I get the most out of my next visit to the dentist? Take a look at our tips to help you prepare for your appointment and make sure you understand your treatment and how much it will cost.
  20. Report -

    In our 2015 - 2016 annual report, we celebrate our growth on social media, the work of our volunteers, and our outreach at events across Lewisham.
  21. Report -

    This year we started our #30DaysofHealthwatch campaign and heard from 74 percent more people than last year.
  22. Report -

    This year saw us tackle issues such as men and young people's mental health, complaints information and access to services.
  23. Report -

    we teamed up with our Healthwatch colleagues in Bexley and Greenwich to be part of the first ever joint Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham Learning Disability Big Health Day. Read our report to find out what people think of mental health services.
  24. Report -

    The aim of the research was to obtain the views and (LTP) experiences of Lewisham residents to support the local implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan. We carried out local engagement and enabled people including seldom heard communities to have their say in how the NHS can better take care of them and how the care they received can be improved.
  25. Report -

    We visited Fieldside care home to talk to staff and residents about the care on offer at the home. This report details our findings and recommendations for improvements.
  26. Report -

    We visited The harbour mental health crisis cafe to talk to staff and visitors about the care and service on offer. This report details our findings.
  27. Report -

    The six Healthwatch in south east London engaged with residents to ensure their voices will help shape the local implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan. The public were asked to give their views on improving local services; share their ideas on how people can live healthier lives and what improvements they think could be made to help people access services quickly.
  28. Report -

    Through our Lewisham Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service, we were pleased to find several local examples of good practice in the provision of the complaints information. However, the quality of the website content was inconsistent so we embarked on a project to assess the existence and standard of information on practice websites.
  29. Report -

    Exam stress is the biggest concern for young people in Lewisham. Children and Young People’s (CYP) mental health and wellbeing is a national and local priority. Find out what people told us in our latest report.
  30. 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.
  31. Report -

    /report/2018-07-31/men-talk-health
  32. Report -

    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.
  33. 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.
  34. 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.
  35. 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.
  36. 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.
  37. 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.
  38. 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.
  39. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham is proud to share our See Hear Now report which explores issues of access to health and wellbeing services for people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities.
  40. Report -

    We joined forces with Healthwatch Bromley to host a self care matters event to raise awareness of the importance of self care and managing health conditions. Read our report on the day.
  41. Report -

    This report documents the findings of the research, which took place from February and June 2016. The data was collected by visiting 10 sample pharmacies distributed across four different localities in Lewisham to ensure an even
    geographical coverage.
  42. Report -

    This study was conducted by Healthwatch’s Community Engagement Officer, who visited 5 food banks across the boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham. Those in attendance were informally interviewed about their experiences of accessing health and social care services and the circumstances which has caused them to access community services in the borough.
  43. Report -

    In late 2015, Healthwatch Lewisham engaged with communities that don’t speak English as their first language including Vietnamese, Tamil, Polish, Turkish and Refugee groups. We engaged with 95 individuals which covered a broad range of demographics. Many people engaged with were parents or carers and many recognised themselves as being disabled.
  44. Report -

    Through this report, Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham draws attention to the experiences of access to health and social care services faced by members of the Polish community living in Lewisham.
  45. Report -

    Through this report, Healthwatch Lewisham draws attention to the experiences of access to health and social care services faced by members of the refugee community living in Lewisham.
  46. Report -

    Through this report, Healthwatch Lewisham draw attention to experiences of access to health and social care services faced by members of the Tamil community living in Lewisham.
  47. Report -

    Through this report, Healthwatch Lewisham draws attention to the experiences of access to health and social care services faced by members of the Turkish community living in Lewisham.
  48. Report -

    This report presents the findings that emerged through our engagement. The recommendations that are provided, were led by the young people themselves and are included to support decision making and commissioning of services for them.
  49. Report -

    Through this report, Healthwatch Bromley and Lewisham draw attention to experiences of access to health and social care services faced by members of the Vietnamese community living in Lewisham.
  50. Report -

    Our latest intelligence report highlights the experiences of Lewisham residents between February and July. Find out about the views of older residents, young adults living with cancer from BME communities and much much more.