Our Highlights:

-Healthwatch Lambeth AGM

-Vaccine rollout in Lambeth: What to expect

-Mental Health Awareness week

-Our volunteer opportunities

On 30th March, Healthwatch trustees and staff hosted our first online AGM.  It was attended by 24 people and focused on the achievements of Healthwatch’s 3 delivery programmes: Children &Young People; Mental Health and Older people. 

Highlights included:

Children and young people – Looked after children’s Initial Health Assessment and Review Health Assessment’s recommendations adopted by the service:

        -Comprehensive induction programme and training for all social care staff.

        -Monitoring and improved communication between Mary Sheridan Centre and Children Social Care.

        -Designated doctor also takes time to write/talk to young people to take up IHA/RHA.

Mental health of outpatients in King’s College Hospital: Recommendation that the trust develop a plan to implement all the recommendations that came from two workshops with staff and local mental health groups on how they can work together, including producing resources about services and developing the role of volunteers.

Advance Care Planning Consortium: The consortium has reached 1,057 people in our awareness raising sessions; offered 40 people 1-1 support to produce advanced care plans; directly supported 13 people to complete an advanced care plan; trained 61 Supporters to complete advanced care plans with service users and 6 Champions to continue our awareness raising work in the community; expanded our offer to include interactive practitioner briefings to local services and engaged in discussions with hospital trusts, care home providers, CMC, Lambeth Together, GP Practices and PPGs.

Black Thrive: Natalie Creary, Director of Black Thrive spoke about the partnership’s achievements including:

Children, Young People and Families

        -Involved over 100 residents including young people to shape the Council’s strategy to reduce violence that affects young people.

        -Gained the commitment from Lambeth Council to embed an antiracist lens on their public health approach.

        -Codesigned a wellbeing offer with young Black Men and South London and Maudsley.

        -Hosted a listening event with the GLA on school exclusions.

Working Age Adults

        -Influenced the Living Well Network Alliance’s peer support and advocacy offer.

        -Negotiated an incentivised key performance indicator in the LWNA contract.

        -Piloted the first Emotional Emancipation Circle in Lambeth.

        -Engaged local people to shape South London and Maudsley’s ‘Providing Safe and Therapeutic Services Training.’

        -Contributed to a Domestic Homicide Review.

        -Influencing the Violence against Women and Girls Strategy.

Influencing resource flows

        -Designed a role for Lambeth Council to improve engagement with Black communities: AD Community Health and Engagement.

        -Became a strategic partner for KCL Centre for Society and Mental Health.

        -Secured funding from GSTTC to improve employment outcomes for Black people living with long term conditions.

The reports were welcomed by those who attended and the importance of understanding how partners can embed an antiracist lens on the delivery and funding of health and care services was discussed. If anyone would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact: catherine.pearson@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk
  

On Friday 14th May,  Healthwatch Lambeth in partnership with arts practitioner Tony Cealy will be hosting a full day of events, workshops, performances and activities for Mental Health Awareness week.

You can register for any of the activities via the link below. For more information, please contact Caroline at caroline.waran@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk

We want to hear from young people about their experience of transition to adulthood and/or independence.

If you are 14 to 25, do live in Lambeth, and have mental health conditions or learning disability, please share your story.  Your private information will be kept  completely confidential. Your story can help us improve the support you need as you move to adulthood.

For more information, contact Natalia Sali on 07729  624 226 or Natalia.Sali@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk

Advance care planning involves considering and recording your wishes for how you would like to be treated and cared for at the end of your life, or if you could no longer communicate or make your own decisions.

It gives you an opportunity to identify what care you would like, as well as any treatments you may not want to receive in certain situations.

Why it is important
Thinking and talking about, and then recording what it is important to you will help make sure that family, friends and professionals understand what you want and respect your wishes.

It can also give you and your loved ones peace of mind, enabling you to live well and get the most out of life. Planning now can make a stressful time later easier for you and those around you.

You can create an advance care plan at any time. It’s not just for people nearing the end of their life.

Lambeth Advance Care Planning Support Service
The Lambeth Advance Care Planning Consortium offers free, one-to-one support to help people make an advance care plan.

The service is for anyone in Lambeth who would like help to make an advance care plan.  We can:

 -Tell you about the ways you can record your care and treatment wishes
 -Help you decide which documents you want to use
 -Support you to complete the documents and share them with the right people.

Please note that due to coronavirus, we are currently providing one-to-one support by telephone only.

You can ask for help from this service using Age UK Lambeth’s MyCommunity Lambeth referral form (previously called the Safe and Independent Living service, or SAIL.) See the link below

 
How to request support from the Consortium
Fill out a MyCommunity Lambeth referral form (tick the ‘Advance Care Planning Conversations’ box in the Support section)
Or give the MyCommunity Lambeth team a call
0333 360 3700

Dying Matters week 2021

Dying Matters week will be taking place this year from 10-16 May, when you can find out more about Advance Care Planning and how the ACP consortiumm can help you or a family member. If you have your own plans of an event for Dying Matters week that you would like us to support, get in touch with us on 020 7274 8522 or contact Sara Lyon at sara.lyon@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk

We are calling on everyone to help shape health and social care. Healthwatch Lambeth and Care Quality Commission have joined forces for this campaign.

New research shows nearly two thirds of people would support NHS and social care services by actively providing feedback on their care. People also say they are more grateful for their healthcare services since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

This campaign aims to:

-Help services identify and address quality issues
-Support patients by encouraging people to share feedback on individual experience
 

If you are not satisfied with the care and support you receive or how you are being treated by services, or if your needs are not being met, you can raise your concern. If you need more information to do this, call Healthwatch Lambeth on 020 7274 8522 or email us at info@healthwatchlambeth.org.uk . You can also leave a message via our website