What people in South east London are telling us about health and care

Introduction

This South East London (SEL) Healthwatch Quarterly Insight report provides an overview of the key themes identified in relation to community feedback for the period July 2022 - September 2022

Local Healthwatch in South east London

Local Healthwatch is the independent champion for people who use health and social care services. We exist to ensure that people are at the heart of care.

We listen to what people like about services and what could be improved, and we share their views with those with the power to make change happen. We also help people find the information they need about services in their area. We have the power to ensure that the government and those running services hear people’s voices. As well as seeking the public’s views ourselves, we also encourage services to involve people in decisions that affect them. Our sole purpose is to help make care better for people. In south east London there are six independent Healthwatch which are coterminous with the six boroughs.

In January 2019 the NHS in England published a 10-year plan for the NHS to improve the quality of patient care and health outcomes. The plan set out the areas the NHS wanted to make better. With the passage of the Health and Care Act 2022 and the new statutory arrangements to support integration, South East London ICS (Integrated Care System) is required to publish a strategy and a five-year forward view. A key part of this is to take an open and inclusive approach to strategy development and leadership, involving partners, stakeholders and communities, and utilising local data Healthwatch 

To support this process and ensure local insight and voices are central to the strategy, Healthwatch across southeast London continue to report on people’s current experiences of the health and care system, compiling current insight across the area and identifying any key gaps to be addressed.

What are we hearing?

This report is a summary of the key messages that Healthwatch across southeast London are hearing from people in their areas. This data comes from a range of sources including calls and emails from service users, meetings with groups of service users or advocates, online reviews, and outreach and engagement events