Exploring the local impact of the Covid 19 pandemic: focus group with Church Street Library English Speaking Group

Healthwatch Central West London has been working to reach people in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea who are under-represented in conversations about health and social care. They conducted a focus group in December 2020 with seven members of the Church Street Library English Speaking Group, a local community group in the City of Westminster. The group provides help, guidance and classes for people who have English as an additional language or who do not speak English.

The focus group took place at the beginning of the Covid-19 vaccine programme.  Participants in were therefore keen to discuss the vaccines, their safety, and their rollout. In general, participants expressed a wariness over the safety of the vaccines, as a result of the speed with which they had been developed. They told us about the prevalence of misinformation concerning the vaccine and other aspects of COVID-19 mitigation strategies.

It is important that health and social care providers tackle this misinformation, to ensure that vaccine take-up is high across all communities. Health and social care services are in a good position to do this: many participants said that the NHS is their most trusted source of news relating to the pandemic

The accessibility of health services remains a pressing issue. People felt that digital-only systems are not adequate. They highlighted the importance of ensuring services are accessible to those who have English as an additional language, and to those who do not speak English. Particularly during the current pandemic, making sure that all information is widely available and accessible is vital for both public health and for individuals.