Healthwatch Lambeth is your health and social care champion. We listen to what people like about services and what could be improved. We share those views with NHS leaders and care providers to make change happen.

With regular downpours, July may not have been as sunny as we had hoped, but at Healthwatch Lambeth our moods were boosted by all the activity around our ongoing projects, as well as our attendance at various events in the community.

Our Maternity Project assessing maternity services in Lambeth is well under way, with our first focus group taking place last month at Mummy's Day Out; a fantastic organisation that promotes opportunities and aims to reduce isolation. Alongside this, we've started our Primary Care Networks (PCN) Engagement Project and are working alongside Lambeth PCNs to investigate how they can improve the way they engage with their patients.

We've also been busy attending outreach events in the community, such as Streatham's Social Prescribing Fair, and are looking forward to other such events in the weeks ahead. 

Thanks again for your ongoing support, 

Mairéad Healy

CEO Healthwatch Lambeth

We're delighted to report that our Maternity Project is well underway and in July we began doing focus groups with mothers in Lambeth to discuss maternity services and experiences throughout the borough. We will provide regular updates on the project and aim to collate and report our findings by October. 

We recently ran our initial focus groups on the project; firstly, at Mummy's Day Out, a welcoming network that aims to create opportunities for mothers and reduce isolation and, secondly, IRMO, an organisation that supports Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking communities in Lambeth. We're very grateful for their support in facilitating these events and look forward to updating you on the project in the coming weeks and months. You can learn more on our website here. 

Healthwatch Lambeth have started work on a Primary Care Networks (PCN) Engagement Project, where we will be working alongside Lambeth PCNs, supporting them to improve the way they engage with their patients.

The project aims to ensure patients/the public are shaping health and care services; improve access to health and care services; improve patient experience of health and care services; improve health outcomes and life expectancy and reduce health inequalities.

The project has two distinct phases and we are currently in Phase 1. This runs during Summer and Autumn 2023. In Phase 1, we are working with two Lambeth PCNs on a specific engagement theme or topic. These are:

• Streatham PCN on engaging with South Asian communities, and
• Fiveways PCN on access (communication, appointments, website) and digital inclusion/digital exclusion 

We will keep you updated on the project and you can learn more here. 

We are looking forward to running pop-up stalls in the Tower Wing Reception at Guy’s Hospital on Tuesday 5 September (10am to 1pm) and in the Golden Jubilee Wing at Kings College Hospital (near the helpdesk) on Wednesday 6 September from (10am to 1pm).  

We will be raising awareness of Healthwatch Lambeth - who we are and what we do - and are happy to advise and support people with any problems they are experiencing accessing and using health and care services. We will also be gathering feedback on local health and care services – both good and bad. 

We will be running pop-up stalls at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospitals and at Kings College Hospital once a quarter, so look out for forthcoming dates.