Healthwatch City of London November Newsletter
Chat from our Chair
Welcome to our November newsletter; bringing you the latest news and updates from Healthwatch City of London. In the past month we held our Annual General Meeting with Ian Thomas the Town Clerk for the City of London. It was amazing to see so many of you join us to, hear his vision for Health and Social Care for the next five years and giving you the chance to pose all your questions directly. See below for more about what’s on the mind of the Town Clerk and what we will be doing to support the delivery of some of the things you care about.
This month we held a Patient Panel on the new Cancer Wait Times Standard with Wayne Douglas from NHS Cancer Alliance, the Cancer Alliance Team plan the delivery of cancer care across North East London, working with different services to ensure they’re joined up to deliver the right care at the right time in the right place. Wayne spoke through the changes to cancer waiting times and the likely impact on you as service users or carers.
We are in the process of planning our next Patient Panel on the various digital patient portals in use by those responsible for our care. You have told us that you want to know more about how you can access them and how they talk to each other. We’ll have a representative telling us how to use the Patient Knows Best app, which is used at Barts NHS Trust and at the Homerton NHS Trust with information on the NHS app.
We are also delighted to announce our Christmas Afternoon Tea Party which will be held on the Friday, 8 December. We know how hard the holiday season can be for some those in our community and therefore we are hoping to come together and be able to provide support for each other.
November also marks the day for Carers Rights Day, we know how carers are working tirelessly behind the scenes as they provide essential support. Carers Rights Day, on Thursday, 23 November highlights unpaid carers rights and the support services they can access. More information regarding Carers Rights Day and the events in the City will be down below.
All the best
Gail
Chair, Healthwatch City of London
Our AGM with the Town Clerk
We were delighted to be joined by Ian Thomas, the Town Clerk and CEO of the City of London Corporation at our recent AGM held at St Giles Church.
Ian shared how committed he and the City of London Corporation are to improving health and wellbeing and spoke on the city’s responsibilities to all of those who a part of the City of London. Ian outlined how making the new health and social care organisations relevant to us was important, giving clarity on their achievements and impact. Ian spoke about the CoL’s continuing desire for another GP surgery, and he stressed the importance of charities and the public sector working together more effectively for the benefit of residents and to make sure our voice is heard.
Ian answered questions about the standard of the premises at the Neaman Practice and the opportunity for a more modern site. He acknowledged a question from a parent regarding information and communication between different services to support those with Special Needs and Neurodiversity. Concerns were raised about the amount of office building and renovation in the City and its impact on health.
Our AGM followed where our Chair, Gail Beer, gave an overview of our work over the past year, a financial overview and our plans for the coming year.
Are you concerned about the new Cancer Wait Times Standard?
From the 10th October 2023 new cancer waiting times standards have come into effect across the NHS. These changes include, the removal of the two weeks wait standard and all of the remaining waiting times standards are to be rationalised into three core measures.
These core measures include a faster diagnosis standard, a 62 day referral to treatment and a 31 day decision to treatment. We know that all of these new measures may seem unclear and may raise many questions for you, what this means for you or your family members who are waiting for a diagnosis or treatment.
That’s why we held a Patient Panel exploring the impact of the new Cancer wait times standard. We were joined by Wayne Douglas, the lead for diagnosis and treatment at the NHS North East London Cancer Alliance, who explained all of these changes and residents had the opportunity to ask any questions. The most important take away from the session is knowing that within 28 days from your GP referral, you will have cancer ruled out or be diagnosed.
For more information on all of the changes, visit https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/20230731_NHS cancer waiting time standards summary.pdf
Enter and View at St Bartholomew’s Hospital
We are meeting with the senior management team at Barts to plan an Enter and View. Based on your feedback about the issues you have with communication at Barts we will be reviewing their current administrative services and the impact it has on your care.
As a local Healthwatch we have the statutory power to Enter and View, a legal right to visit places that provide publicly funded health or care services, to see and hear how people experience the services.
This gives us the opportunity to:
- Collect the opinions and experiences of people using these services, their carers or relatives.
- Talk to staff who are providing care
- See the nature and quality of services
- Develop insights and make recommendations to improve care.
If you are interested in taking part in this or any other Enter and View, please contact info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Full training and DBS checks will be provided.
Do you feel confident using the NHS Apps?
Have you been asked to download an app to access letters, results or your care record?
We know that there are many Apps out there and different hospitals and services and even our GP often send us links; to Apps such as the NHS app, Patient Knows Best portal, My Chart and Dr IQ.
We want to know how you are finding these apps and if they are helping you better access your health services and information about your care.
We will be holding a Patient Panel on the NHS app and Patient Knows Best, how to best utilise them and to help you access your health services.
More details will be announced soon.
Overprescribing at the Portman’s Pharmacy
We were recently made aware of patients being over dispensed their prescription medication at Portman’s Pharmacy. Patients were receiving twice the amount of their standard prescription.
The Medicines Optimisations team at NHS North East London are continuing their investigation into this issue and we will be able to provide an update next week. In the mean time if you have any concerns email info@healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk
Barts Trust return and reuse walking aid scheme
Barts Trust has launched a walking aid return and reuse scheme at The Royal London Hospital and Newham Hospital. If patients no longer need their walking aids, they can return them to dedicated collection carts. At the Royal London Hospital, they can be returned outside the Stepney Way entrance, next to the bike storage and outside the main entrance.
The aids will be held in storage for a minimum of 72 hours to ensure they are safe to use again, they will then be cleaned and labelled and ready for new patients to use. This scheme will be able to save 20% of carbon emissions, with the aim of this growing to 40% in the future.
For more information, you can visit New return and reuse walking aid scheme will help create greener future | Our news - Barts Health NHS Trust
Save the date for our Christmas Afternoon Tea Party!
We are excited to announce that we are holding a festive Christmas afternoon tea party.
We know that the holiday season can be a lonely time for many of those in our community and many of your neighbours may be struggling during this time, we want to know that you’re not alone. Our afternoon tea will be a great chance to spend time with your neighbours and those in your community, make sure to invite your friends, family and neighbours.
Save the date for Thursday, 8th December, more details will be announced soon, we can’t wait to see you there!
Carers Rights Day 2023
Carers Rights Day is coming up on the 23 November, the focus for 2023 is Your rights: today, tomorrow and in the future. Each year this day shares the significance of being an unpaid carer and the importance surrounding unpaid carers knowing their rights and how to access support.
This year’s theme highlights the importance of unpaid carers being able to plan for their future while understanding their rights and being able to access important services.
In the City, Carers Connections and City Carers Community have collaborated to hold events and sessions surrounding what your rights as an unpaid carer are and the support you can access.
To view the schedule please visit: https://cityconnections.org.uk/are-you-a-carer/carersactivities-in-the-city/carers-rights-day-november-2023/
For more information, you can contact farzana@ccth.org.uk
Freedom of the City of London
We would like to congratulate Shirley Islam, the founder of City Carers Community and Farzana Khanom, Carers Connections Project Manager on their Freedom of the City award, nominated by The Right Honorable The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. It is deeply deserved for all of their work in their service to unpaid carers in the City of London.
Felicty Lyons, the Lady Mayoress said, “The Lord Mayor and I were delighted to nominate Shirley Islam and Farzana Khanom for the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of their vital work in supporting unpaid carers, who provide such a valuable contribution to their communities, filling a gap in our social care system.”
Anne Corbett, Cripplegate Councillor and Carers Champion said “In different and lovely ways Shirley and Farzana provide support and guidance for carers in the City of London. We are fortunate to have two strong women who understand carers and love helping people. The Freedom of the City of London is a well-deserved honour.”
Shirley Islam, founder of City Carers Community, shared that “I was surprised and honoured to receive this award. This recognition is shared with all of us unpaid carers and supporters. Since April 2020, City Carers Community have continued to raise our needs and challenges, to decision makers in the City, NHS and Nationally.”
Shirley adds “In particular Healthwatch City of London were key to resolving carer challenges and showing us the way with focused carers sessions in 2020 - 2021. We had situations whereby temperature-controlled medicines couldn’t be delivered, instances where safe guarding requests were raised. Unpaid carers without wishing to be, are heavy users of the Health and Social care system. More carers need to share their experiences with Healthwatch’s across the country to create the conversations for change and to learn which local NHS neighbourhoods, NHS groups can facilitate the changes. We thank, Gail Beer, Paul Coles and Rachel Cleaves’ team for their tremendous support”
Farzana Khanom, Carers Connection Project Manager, said that ‘It is an absolute privilege to receive the Freedom of the City award. My heartfelt gratitude to Lord mayor, lady Mayoress and Cllr Anne Corbett for their nomination. Last but not least, the wonderful city carers who are an absolute joy to work with, their immense support has made this project a huge success. Thank you to all my colleagues at both Carers Centre TH and City Connections".
Photo credit: Jonathan Lee. Left to right: Katy Styles (We Care Campaign), Lady Mayoress, Farzana Khanom, The Lord Mayor, Shirley Islam, Cllr Naresh Sonpar & Dr Karen Lee
Join the Portsoken Women’s Group in November
City Connections have published their November schedule with the Portsoken Women’s Group, every Wednesday they hold sessions surrounding, physical and mental health and wellbeing as well as essential information sessions. This month, as Ruby, the Wellbeing Coordinator is leaving, they are holding a mini leaving party. Everyone at Healthwatch City of London would like to wish Ruby the best and thank her for all the work she has done for the City of London.
The following weeks, there will be a talk from Victim Support, a talk from Adult Social Care Strategy, a Carers Rights Day Talk and the following week there will be a Chair exercise session.
All of these sessions will be held from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Portsoken Community Centre. If you have any questions surrounding these sessions, please contact Gow at gow@cityconnections.org.uk
New City Connections Boardgamers club
City Connections have announced their new City Boardgamers club for residents and workers in the City of London, where you can have the chance to unwind, meet new people and have fun! The club will be at the first Wednesday of every month, beginning Wednesday 1 November at the Barbican.
Sign up is essential as there are only 12 spaces available, to sign up please contact Gow at gow@cityconnections.org.uk
