Greenwich Nepalese Community and Access to Health Care
Download (PDF 480.65 KB)Summary of report content
In 2014 Healthwatch Greenwich carried out a piece of work looking at the experiences of the Nepalese community that lived in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The main objective was to highlight health and social care needs within the community. As the study progressed it became apparent the recently arrived elderly community had the greatest need and faced the most difficult barriers in accessing health and social care services. Healthwatch Greenwich made a series of recommendations that focused primarily on the elderly community.
Following representations from the Nepalese Community, Healthwatch Greenwich revisited the recommendations in their 2014 report and asked for updates from relevant parties. Whilst there was still some work to be done, they were pleased to see several positive community developments in since their original report was published. However, as the study progressed it became apparent the recently arrived elderly community had the greatest need and faced the most difficult barriers in accessing health and social care services. These include poor access to interpreting services, a lack of awareness of the impact of poor mental health and the mental health services available, as well as poor understanding and sometimes a resistance to acknowledging the impact of substance and alcohol misuse, and other problems such as dementia amongst the community.
The report includes 8 recommendations.