Grenfell Recovery Scrutiny-Committee Report, Central West London

Within 24 hours of the disaster, Healthwatch Central West London (HCWL) collated key emergency information, circulated this to membership and put on website. An Easy Read Version of Trauma Leaflet was produced and made available for translation.

Findings:

• Information, support, and services following the fire

• Lack of robust and accessible information from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) Council for local community.

• Slow response, communicating and provision of information by public agencies

• RBKC Council developed the Grenfell Fire Response Team followed by the Care for Grenfell Team.

• West London Clinical Commissioning Group (WL CCG) set up the NHS Grenfell website and provided various methods to local people with information including outreach, psychological help, 5 drop-in support groups, Twitter and Facebook newsfeeds and Mental Health training sessions.

Concerns raised:

• Air Quality and Respiratory concerns

• Key Workers put in place for access to most appropriate support for health needs for survivors

• Support for Children, Young People and Families

• Police Family Liaison Officers allocated to families of the deceased and individuals with life threatening conditions

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) support to schools in identifying and responding to the needs of students

• RBKC Council funded Hestia, a local provider of mental health support to build upon the additional provision that they have put in place since the fire to rapidly expand their outreach and support offer

• 40 therapists providing trauma support, backed by the primary care liaison and school nursing team

Recommendations:

• an independent check of the information, support and services set out by RBKC Council and WL CCG to ensure that they are available and accessible to all local people who need to use them. Community involvement and engagement should be at the heart of this.

• an independent evaluation of information, support and services carried out to assess the quality of provision being provided and is it meeting the needs of people accessing it?

• evaluation to be externally commissioned to ensure impartiality of the provision of support to the local community after the fire.

• a robust health and social care needs assessment carried out and a comprehensive mapping of all available services and pathways of support specific to people affected by the fire.

• development of short and long term indicators for measuring local people’s on-going emotional and physical wellbeing.

Future:

HCWL to employ a dedicated Grenfell Project Co-ordinator to focus on facilitating co-production between RBKC, WL CCG, the local Community and local Voluntary and Community groups.