July 2026 Newsletter

Chat from our Chair 

Well, who can believe we are in July already! I hope you have all been coping in the extreme weather we’ve been having, we have few tips on staying cool below. The very young and elderly and those with   certain conditions will have found this period more difficult than most. 

 So, what have we been up to? Last Saturday we held our annual Health in the City Day, which was a great success, although we had slightly fewer attendees this year because of the heat, the event was still a great success. Our stallholders and attendees have given us some really positive feedback, and of course we’d like to thank Dr Chor and the Neaman Practice once again for their support. Thank you also to our colleagues from across Health and Social Care who came along on a Saturday to join us and meet you.  

I am pleased to announce that we have now published our Annual Report 2025/6, last year was a mixed year with the news from the Government about the abolition of Healthwatch, which was unsettling, but we continued to deliver more events for you to attend, produce several reports and to make your voice heard. The Annual Report always showcases what a small but mighty team can do! Details of how to read it are below.  

Following our consultation last month, we have now also published our Annual Business Plan for 2026/7, which is focused on delivering for you. Again, details on where to read this are below.  

One of our main objectives from last year and continuing into this year is to increase engagement and health awareness in the Portsoken Area of the City. The team have made some great progress on this over the past few months. Residents told us that they found a lack of communication with the Goodman’s Fields Health Centre and the wait for a GP frustrating. We arranged for the Assistant Practice Manager to come along to talk to residents, which resulted in a robust but useful discussion, the main points from the session are below.  

This month we will be cracking on with our projects on Waiting list management, emergency pathways and social prescribing, so please keep a look out for invitations to feedback or join focus groups, and below we announce the next in our popular Patient Panel series.  

Thanks as ever for your support.  

Stay safe in this weather  

Gail

Gail Beer, Chair Healthwatch City of London

Healthwatch City of London Annual Report 2025/6   

We’re proud to publish our Annual Report for 2025/6. It was a very busy year where we delivered a wide range of events, including our Health in the City Day, Men’s Health Matters, Board meetings in public with prominent speakers, our AGM, heart health information event and our ever-popular Patient Panels on subjects including diet and nutrition, skin cancer and befriending services. We also published reports on the Neaman Practice, Digital Apps and the Minor Injuries Unit at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.  

We thank you for your continued support.  

You can read the full report here Healthwatch City of London Annual Report 2025/6 | HealthwatchCityoflondon 

Healthwatch City of London Business Plan 2026/27

Last month we consulted on our business plan, thank you for your feedback. The plan has now been ratified by the Healthwatch City of London board, and the and has now been published.  

As a reminder our top local priorities for the year are as follows: 

1. Deliver 10 patient panels to inform service users about Health and Social care topics that are important to them and impact on day to day lives. Responding to the requests of local people.   
2. Continued engagement with Portsoken residents building upon the relationships built this year with the Bengali community and to increase engagement with the Latin American Community. Supporting the work to address health inequalities 
3. Work with City Advice to provide support for City Workers. Understand the issues facing the hidden worker community, working with the provider to help signpost to City Workers who can help.  Give insights to the CoL on the impacts of funding changes. 
4. Scrutiny of Adult Social Care. Undertake a mystery shop to better understand residents’ experiences of contacting Adult Social Care for support. Scrutinise the CQC report in relation to safeguarding. Support the development of user faced responses and initiatives 
5. Projects – our projects are driven by what we hear from you about local services and where you think we should focus attention 

 a) Understand emergency pathways. The process used to assess, and direct patients with urgent health needs to the appropriate care setting. Especially looking at pathways for patients with pre-existing conditions such as cancer or heart problems. 

B) Waiting list management – research how waiting lists are cleansed by health providers, where decisions are made, how patients are informed and appeal process and the impact on local users  

C) Social prescribing in the City - undertake a project to understand the use of social prescribing in the City, who provides it, how many people use it, how is it being used to support people who are on more than 10 different drugs a day.  

D) Patient communication – building on our previous project on digital apps, to carry out a project which aims to understand more in depth about the effects of the shift from analogue to digital in healthcare, the remaining scope for the use of traditional means of communication and patient satisfaction with the different forms of communication.  

6. Maintain, train and utilise a dedicated team of volunteers. To attend focus groups to give the City’s perspective, research and write reports for projects, help with HWCoL events and carry out enter and view visits.   

You can read the full plan on our website https://www.healthwatchcityoflondon.org.uk/report/2026-07-02/annual-business-plan-20267  

Goodman's Fields Health Centre Patient Panel 

Last week we were joined by Fharhan Miah, Assistant Practice Manager at the Goodman’s Fields Health Centre and over 20 residents from the Portsoken area of the City. 

Fharhan gave an overview of the Practice which has around 37,000 patients, one of the biggest Practices of the Borough of Tower Hamlets and is part of Operose Health. 

Residents raised concerns about the wait times to get through to reception to book an appointment, Fharhan acknowledged their concerns, but explained since the introduction of the new app Evergreen at the Practice, telephone wait times have reduced, appointments can be booked via the app and call back requests can be made instead of waiting on the phone for an appointment. Fharhan is going to send us the statistics on this as he didn’t have them to hand. 

Fharhan explained that the new App and its usability would be discussed in the upcoming Patient Participation Group, which is a patient forum for feedback to the Practice. Feedback about the app was given by attendees, including the need to have language options available and training on how to use it. Fharhan was going to raise this at the PPG. 

Other questions asked: 

Can you see the same doctor all the time? Yes you can but you may have to wait longer. If you’re need to see the doctor is urgent, they urge patients to see the first available doctor. 

How long is the wait to see a GP? Usually get either a telephone or face to face consultation within 48 hours. 

Can you see the doctor for more than one problem at a time? It’s not ideal to do that as appointments are only long enough to look at one problem, however you can ask for a double appointment via reception if you need it. 

Why have you used the Evergreen App and not the NHS app? It's an app used by Operose Health, you can come to reception, and they will show you how to use it. 

Our thanks to Fharhan for joining us and starting this engagement with our residents. However, the session has raised a number of questions that we will be addressing over the next few months, particularly the reliance on the new app and how that can marginalise some members of the community they are serving and how this App links with the NHS App.  

Our Upcoming Events 

Patient Panel Series 

Patient panels are designed as information sessions for you to attend on topics of concern or interest to them. They also are for you to give feedback on those services and share ideas for improvements. Details of our next event is below:  

Pharmacy First 

Tuesday 21st July, 9.30am – 11am at the Portsoken Community Centre.  

We’ll be joined by Eric (Wai Lun) Chu, Lead Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist (Community Pharmacy Selfcare Advice Service and Pharmacy First) from NHS North East London, who will be giving an overview of Pharmacy First and answering questions. 

Pharmacy First allows patients to get treatment and prescription medication for certain conditions from local pharmacies without going to a GP.  

Picnic on the Square 

We will be supporting Picnic on the Square on 26th July at Aldgate Square, which will include a number of community-orientated stands and activities.  

The festival is a celebration of diversity and unity, it shall build communities and is a celebration of Latino multiculturalism. Join us in supporting this event between 2-6pm.  

Stay safe in the heat  

Here are a few tips to stay safe in the heat:  

• Check in with vulnerable friends, family and neighbours.  
• Stay hydrated 
• If possible, avoid going out in the sun between 11am - 3pm 
• If out walking and/or commuting, try to avoid busy roads during peak traffic 
• Close curtains and windows on sun-facing rooms during the day 
• Wear loose, light-coloured, lightweight clothing 
• Use a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses outdoors 
• Apply SPF 30+ sunscreen and reapply frequently 
• Seek shade wherever possible 

Elsewhere in Health and Social Care 

999 Patient Survey: Building better care  

London Ambulance Service would like to hear about your experience of using their services. Please follow this link to complete their short survey, www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/shareyourfeedback or by clicking here. By sharing your views and providing feedback, you will help them improve how they care for their patients 

Primary Care Bangla event  

The Shoreditch Park and City primary care network (PCN) are responsible for GP services in the city are running an event for the Bengali community. They are inviting all Bengali speakers (who require a translator) to join them and let them know how they can support you better.  

On the day they will be showcasing their staff and services as well as providing and light lunch and refreshments. 

The purpose of this event is to break down language barriers when it comes to accessing health.