Annual Report 2015/16

Healthwatch Waltham Forest report on its key achievements for 2015/16.  it:

• Influenced the redesign of community blood testing services through an Enter and View review of phlebotomy centres. Healthwatch’s findings and recommendations were incorporated into the Clinical Commissioning Group’s plans for a newly commissioned service. 
• Improved patient experience at Whipps Cross Hospital by gathering feedback from more than 1,000 outpatients, leading to recommendations on appointment systems, communication, waiting times, accessibility and patient information. 
• Worked with Public Health to engage 176 residents from a wide range of communities, ensuring local views directly influenced Waltham Forest’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy. 
• Highlighted the needs of underserved groups through projects on dementia in African and African Caribbean communities, homeless people’s experiences of healthcare, deaf community access to pharmacy services, and the experiences of looked-after children and care leavers. 
• Supported improvements in GP services through practice visits, mystery shopping of GP websites and telephone systems, and analysis of patient feedback, leading to recommendations on access, communication and information provision. 
• Influenced care for vulnerable people through work with care homes, patient representatives and safeguarding partners, including promoting better engagement with residents and improved support for people living with dementia. 
• Ran a major annual engagement event focused on public involvement in health and care, helping develop local principles for effective community engagement that were subsequently adopted within wider partnership work across Waltham Forest.