Central West London Healthwatch annual report 16/17

Healthwatch Central West London’s annual report 2016/17 outlines some of the ways in which it has made a difference to services and patient experiences in the past year by listening to the voices of the local communities and ensuring their concerns are taken seriously. It lists the priorities for each borough that it represents; Hammersmith & Fulham, Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea, and Healthwatch Westminster. The report includes highlights from the years work, HW CWL engaged with over 5,800 people on social media, the Dignity Champions have visited nine local services, the team have spoken to 346 people about new NHS plans for health and social care and gained 550 friends of Healthwatch. The report talks about what HW achieved in the last year between the engagement days held and the people they talked/listened to. “I am delighted to be able to speak to Healthwatch in the library – I’m very impressed”. It talks about services visited by the Dignity Champions as part of their enter and view.

The report highlights HW CWL’s contribution in supporting the plans for the STP by surveying how much local people knew about the future health and care plans by the NHS. Reports, engagements and outreach done in each of the three boroughs is detailed in the report covering areas such as social isolation in Kensington & Chelsea, mental heath in Hammersmith & Fulham and care coordination in the City of Westminster. HW CWL helped evaluate and review the state of the PPGs to determine how active they were and to identify the support the needed. Key issues were identified over the year through surveys and research, such as the confusing complaints procedures of providers. The report finishes with the plans for the next year, displays the year end management accounts, and welcomes new volunteers.