1. News -

    National and local efforts have afforded increased attention to LGBTQ+ health and well-being, but this research often emphasises those identifying as gay/lesbian or bisexual, excluding those identifying as trans or non-binary.

    We want to capture the experiences of our trans community members in Lewisham by asking them questions about their interactions with mental health, sexual health, GP services, and other health services. All interviews will be conducted by members of the trans community.

    To be considered, you should identify as trans or non-binary and either live in the borough, or access health services in the borough. You will receive £20 for your time. With recent funding, we are looking for spaces to conduct the interviews as well as open to anyone who would like to get involved in the research project.

    If you are interested, please send us an email at INFO@healthwatchlewisham.co.uk and we can organize a session!
  2. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out a visit in February 2023, to Ladywell Unit, based at University Hospital Lewisham. It houses two wards, Wharton and Powell, that provide services for women and men, respectively, with acute psychiatric illnesses. 
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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 and service users about their experiences and response to living conditions as well as COVID-19 precautions.
  9. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out a visit in November 2022 to Leah Lodge, a residential care home in Blackheath. During our visit, we spoke with staff, family, and service users about their experiences.
  10. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out a visit in January 2023 to M Power Care Home in Catford. During our visit, we spoke with staff, family, and service users about their experiences.

  11. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham staff and Enter & View Authorised Representatives carried out a visit in March 2023 to Manley Court Care Home. During our visit, we spoke with staff, family, and service users about their experiences.
  12. Report -

    Healthwatch Lewisham Annual Report 2022-2023.
  13. News -

    Improving the lives of those living with dementia and their carers using reminiscence and the arts
  14. News -

    Junior Doctors are striking from Thursday 13 to Tuesday 18 July, and then Consultants are striking on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 July.
  15. News -

    St John Ambulance have released a British Sign Language Emergency First Aid film, so that Deaf people know what to do if they find someone in cardiac arrest.
  16. News -

    Sunday 1 October from 2 pm – 5 pm, Deptford Lounge, 9 Giffin Street, SE8 4RJ


  17. Report -

    In November 2023, we conducted an Enter and View visit to Brownhill Lodge Care home. Brownhill Lodge is a residential care provider and home in Catford, currently housing 19 people with dementia, cognitive impairments, or learning disabilities.
  18. News -

    Frailty has been identified by Lewisham’s Health and Care Partners as an area for specific focus for integrated delivery.
  19. News -

    Have Your Say on the Community Health Services in Lewisham!
  20. Report -

    A CQC report has been published for Domiciliary care service, Care Outlook (Forest Hill).
  21. News -

    Lewisham Council are undertaking a public consultation to gather the views and perceptions of serious violence in the Borough.

  22. News -

    Maximising Wellbeing at Home is a program to support people in their own homes.
  23. Advice and Information -

    Five things you should expect from home care, domiciliary care or help in the home.
  24. 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.
  25. Advice and Information -

    Find out what support is available to help you when travelling to your GP, hospital or other NHS services.
  26. News -

    Bowel Cancer UK has launched the Colonoscopy Confidence campaign to help you understand the importance of getting your bowel checked.
  27. Report -

    Get the findings from our Digital Exclusion report December 2021 in an easy-to read infographic.
  28. 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.
  29. Report -

    In December 2019, we carried out three Enter and View visits at the Oakview Family Practice as we regularly receive feedback that patients in Lewisham face difficulties accessing GP appointments.
  30. Report -

    Residents regularly tell us that GP appointments are difficult to access. In 2019, we carried out three visits to the GP Extended Access (GPEA) Service, which has been created to make more appointments available in Lewisham. The Enter and View visits gave us the chance to understand patients’ experiences of the service provided by One Health Lewisham and whether it was helping to improve access for residents.
  31. 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.
  32. 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.
  33. 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.
  34. Report -

    We carried out an audit of local GP out of hours information for patients. A summary of the findings can be found by clicking here.
  35. 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.
  36. 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.
  37. 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.
  38. News -

    As fears of Polio have returned to the UK, it is more important than ever to ensure that your child is protected.
  39. 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.

  40. News -

    Your primary care team is part of a wide network of practitioners and specialists dedicated to ensuring you receive the best care possible.
  41. Advice and Information -

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

    Patient Experience report Q2 2022/23 summarises residents' feedback on health and social care services.
  43. Advice and Information -

    An interactive Wellbeing Map packed with local activities, events and locations in South East London has been produced.
  44. Advice and Information -

    The best way to help protect your child against severe illness from polio, flu, measles, mumps, rubella, and other childhood diseases is to get them up to date with their routine vaccinations.

    If you or your child are not registered with a GP, they can still get free vaccinations – contact a GP surgery.

  45. Advice and Information -

    Do you #KnowTheHigh5 symptoms of bowel cancer?

  46. Advice and Information -

    We are inviting feedback from Lewisham residents about their experience of GPs, Pharmacies, and local Hospitals.
  47. News -

    If you live in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham or Southwark NHS South East London would like to hear from you.