Annual Report 2023/24

Healthwatch Southwark report on its key achievements for 2023/24.  It:

• Published and promoted its report on access to health and social care for Latin American communities in Southwark. The findings were subsequently included in a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment to help inform improvements to local services. 
• Developed and piloted a new “holding to account” process, carrying out 6- and 12-month reviews with health and social care providers to monitor implementation of recommendations arising from Healthwatch research and community feedback. 
• Expanded and strengthened the Community Health Ambassadors programme in partnership with Southwark Public Health, supporting health promotion activities, Safe Surgeries reviews, Long Covid workshops, health checks and community-led wellbeing initiatives. 
• Influenced local and regional decision-making by feeding public experiences into consultations and strategies including the Southwark Adult Social Care Vision, the Latin American Health Inequalities Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, and national NICE engagement work. 
• Established a steering group for its project on healthcare access for adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults, using co-designed workshops with service users, carers and providers to shape the research and recommendations. 
• Successfully challenged digital exclusion in primary care after raising concerns on behalf of an older resident, resulting in a GP surgery changing its telephone system to make it easier for patients to book appointments without needing to use digital services. 
• Reached 4,792 people through engagement, outreach and feedback activities, supported 115 people with advice and information, and worked with 181 volunteers who contributed more than 2,000 hours to improving health and care services.