Annual Report 2021/22

Healthwatch Lambeth report on its key achievements during 2021/22.  It:

• Improved mental health support for young people moving from child to adult services by gathering feedback from young people, parents and carers. As a result, the Living Well Network Alliance recruited transition workers to provide better coordinated support and improve young people’s experiences during this critical period. 
• Helped improve uptake of Annual Health Checks and Covid-19 vaccinations among people with learning disabilities, autism and severe mental illness by identifying barriers to access and influencing local health partners to strengthen information, education and outreach activities. 
• Influenced improvements in emotional and psychological support for young people attending hospital. Feedback from Healthwatch Lambeth’s Young People’s Reference Group contributed to King's College Hospital appointing a consultant psychologist, introducing new staff training and improving signposting to mental health support.
• Supported maternity services to directly involve women and families in shaping a new maternity strategy. Working with King's College Hospital, Healthwatch Lambeth helped design and promote a consultation that engaged 170 women, with findings feeding into future service development. 
• Strengthened patient influence in primary care by reviewing GP website accessibility, highlighting communication issues, and launching a programme with Lambeth Primary Care Networks to improve public participation and patient engagement in local decision-making. 
• Helped more than 160 people access information and support on issues including mental health services, advocacy, Covid-19 vaccination, housing concerns and wellbeing services, while also running community wellbeing events and information sessions. 
• Supported the borough’s wider health and care priorities by engaging more than 700 people, working with learning disability communities, safeguarding partners and local health alliances to ensure residents’ experiences informed service planning and improvement.