Working Together for Better Joined‑Up Care in South East London
Improving coordination between healthcare services is a key priority for residents across Greenwich, and the Working Together project from Let’s Talk Health and Care South East London directly responds to these concerns. NHS South East London is collaborating with Unboxed and the Health Innovation Network to make it easier for GPs, hospitals and other services to work in a more joined‑up way, ensuring care feels less confusing and more responsive.
Local people have shared that unclear processes can lead to delays, frustration, and difficulty navigating the system—whether that means not knowing who to contact after an appointment or GPs not receiving timely updates following a hospital visit. These gaps can negatively affect both patient experience and health outcomes. By bringing clinicians and professionals together, the project aims to streamline communication, improve information‑sharing and ultimately make interactions with the health system smoother for everyone.
The initiative focuses on four key areas: improving the readability and usefulness of hospital letters and discharge summaries; creating safer and more consistent prescribing processes between primary and secondary care; simplifying contact points for both patients and staff; and strengthening advice and guidance channels so GPs and specialists can collaborate more effectively without requiring extra appointments. A literature review has also been undertaken to build on existing evidence and feedback, ensuring recommendations are grounded in real experiences.
In January 2026, a workshop brought together public members, hospital teams and GP staff to explore these challenges in more depth—an approach strongly aligned with Healthwatch Greenwich’s mission to center community voices in service improvement. Better coordination is not only a systems challenge but a lived experience issue, and we support efforts that meaningfully involve residents in shaping solutions.
Healthwatch Greenwich encourages all local residents to stay engaged with this work. Your experiences provide essential insight and help ensure future health and care services are clearer, more connected and truly person‑centred.
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