Annual Report 2019-20 Hackney

1

Welcome to our 2019-20 Annual Report.

This has been a year of progress and consolidation for us. The organisation is now on a firmer footing, delivering on our commitment to highlight public issues and concerns about local health and social care services.

It continues to be a tough climate funding for health and social care services. The full impact COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding and it is likely this will worsen this situation and bring uncertainty to the quality and delivery of local services.

Local funders and providers must work together with Hackney people and Healthwatch to find and agree local solutions to resolve these major problems.

A key way to help services improve is through effective complaints procedures. To ensure this was in place we worked with the Homerton Hospital, Hackney Council, community pharmacies and the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group to develop a Hackney Health and Social Care Complaints Charter. All parties pledged to improve people’s experience of making a complaint when they are unhappy with their treatment or care. We are still waiting for GPs, dentists and opticians to sign the Charter.

Early in 2020 we joined with other Healthwatches to develop national engagement on the NHS Long Term Plan. This Plan significantly reshapes health in England. We know from our public engagement that people want the full range of services at Homerton Hospital. Highlighted also was a commitment to a publicly owned NHS, and better access to mental services.

Many people found Hackney services supported them to stay well and healthy. Although one in four local people find it hard to stay healthy

because of lack of funds or access to services. This year we significantly increased our Enter and View visits to local services. This is when local people and our staff make formal recommendations to improve local services. We used one of these visits to work with the Council to help the recovery of the Housing with Care service, which had been rated inadequate by Care Quality Commission inspectors.

We ended the year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and heard how this particularly impacted on Hackney’s diverse communities. Early on we raised concerns about how health inequalities disproportionately impacted on black and minority communities. We will continue pursue this issue to ensure all people in Hackney get effective and equal access to health and care.

I would like to thank the directors who left, Paula Shaw and Heather Finlay.

Finally, I wish to thank our dedicated Board, staff and volunteers and voice appreciation for all their hard work as we take Healthwatch Hackney forward.

Rupert Tyson Chair, Healthwatch Hackney

Message fromour chair

We will continue to raise concerns about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on diverse communities

ContentsMessage from our chair 1

Message from the Executive Director 2

Highlights of the year 3

Healthwatch Hackney Response to Covid-19 4

Who we are 6

Our duties 7

Your views on health and care 8

NHS Community Voice 12

Healthwatch Hackney investigatory reports 14

Migrant Health Report 16

GP Practice websites 17

Homerton Hospital Patient Transport 17

Integrated Commissioning 18

Involvement Alliance 19

Helping you find answers 20

Our People 21

Our Finances 25

Contact us 26

32

Looking aheadAs we ended this year, we were engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has changed all our lives and it is too early to say what the full impact will be. Whatever changes are coming we want to see these developed together with all of Hackney’s diverse communities.

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 will be a key priority in the coming year. However, we must not forget the other services Hackney people use. It will be challenging to do face to face work with people this year. So, we are thinking how we can use case studies, online interviews and surveys to gather your views. But we also know many of our most vulnerable residents face digital exclusion. We will therefore work with local community groups to see how we can get the views of the widest range of local people and communities about their experience of health and social care services in Hackney.

We will be enhancing our online feedback centre; this will improve the way people can tell us about Hackney services. In this we will work with Hackney Council and City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning group to increase the number of services reporting this centre.

There are also major changes in the way local services are going to be delivered. Local health and Council chiefs are continuing to work more closely together to set up an integrated care system. This will see shifts of hospital services in the community. We will be monitoring this through the evolving Neighbourhood areas. There are Neighbourhood Conversations in each of the 8 areas. These bring together local people and groups with health and care providers. We want to build on this good work with the local communities to see how they want to understand and influence these services.

Some services may become regional, we want to understand what people think of this and if it’s the only solution for these services. Healthwatch will challenge any plans that we believe will fail to enhance health and social care for local people.

To achieve this we will be working with Hackney Council, the City and Hackney Clinical Commission group, Homerton Hospital, the East London Foundation Trust and other local providers. We will also continue our strong working relationship with Hackney’s vibrant voluntary and community groups, who are key partners in gathering the issues and concerns of Hackney people.

Through all this work we hope to increase public involvement, so the Hackney residents are equal partners in the shaping future service.

This year we said farewell to Amanda Elliot, Andrew Mitchelson and Marta Meli and welcomed Jamal Wallace and Mark Drinkwater.

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to our Board, staff, volunteers and all the people of Hackney for their contributions to our work.

Message from the Executive Director

Jon Williams Director, Healthwatch Hackney

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 will be a key priority in the coming year.

Some services may become regional, we want to understand what people think of this and if it’s the only solution for these services.

We identified 7,602 issues from 1,654 people and shared this feedback with local providers and commissioners.

We produced special reports on Migrant health and the Council’s Housing with Care Service

Our social media reach topped 126,000 impressions on Twitter. We have 1,635 followers on Twitter and 225 people follow us on Facebook

‘I just wanted thank you, for keeping my mother and I up-to-date with essential health information these past weeks. As a full time carer, with very little spare time, a no nonsense read is appreciated and useful. So thank you, again’

A resident’s thank you for our Newsletter

Highlights of the year

43 volunteers helped us to carry out our work by providing more than 2,299 hours unpaid support.

4 5

In February 2020, the government introduced a public health campaign to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Covid-19. This included asking travellers from areas of the world with infections to self-isolate, and advice to frequently wash hands.

By March it was clear containment was not working. On the 23rd March the government imposed a lockdown on the whole population. This banned all “non-essential” travel and contact with people outside one’s home. As part of government guidance our staff team worked remotely.

With face to face contact no longer possible, Healthwatch Hackney worked hard to find alternative methods of reaching out to residents. Up to the end of April 2020 we called over 300 Healthwatch members to hear about their experience, and signpost towards sources of support. We found many members unsure how to access support and arrange food and medicine deliveries when isolating.

In partnership with Hackney CVS we supported Neigbourhood Conversations in Hackney’s eight Neighbourhoods. These Neighbourhoods are an NHS/Council programme to better coordinate doctors with other community-based services, so more care is delivered in the community rather than from the hospital. The meetings bought together local people and groups, including Mutual Aid, with the Hackney Council and the NHS. Issues identified include the divide between residents who have access to the internet, increased demand for services, and safguarding, with increased isolation making some residents more vulnerable to scams.

We were pleased know from our opening rates of over 30%, that our newsletters and social media posts are a valued resource, providing information that is clear and can be trusted on Covid-19 and local services.

We were concerned at the disproportionate impact of COVID on Hackney’s diverse communities. We supported efforts to tackle this, taking the view any review had to be wide ranging including discrimination and social-economic factors.

At the current moment it is unclear when more normal social interaction will be able to resume. We are, however, preparing to work in new ways, making more use of informal WhatsApp groups and other forums. We will further explore working with local groups to make sure the voice of the seldom heard is not lost at this difficult time.

Healthwatch Hackney Response to Covid-19

Qualitative evaluation quotes from community members: “feel better informed because of the way you took the time to listen to what we had to say”

“Very well prepared and very valuable experience”

“The people were very helpful. There should be MORE events like this, and more often.”

“Very informative, lots of fun”

“It was good meeting others of the same age group”

“A valuable opportunity to help shape a service that’s relevant to myself and the person I care for”

“It gave an opportunity to express personal experiences. Suggest how things can improve. Learned what has been done and what is available”

“Being able to share views and comment on what has gone well and what could be improved”

76

Healthwatch Hackney is the independent champion for people who use health and care services in the London Borough of Hackney. We make sure people’s voices are heard and influence decision-makers to improve services.

Our vision + Health and social care

services equal for all

+ Needs of all Hackney communities met

+ Residents at the heart of service design

Our mission + Improved health and care

services

+ All people able to enjoy good health & wellbeing

+ Treatment & care provided with respect & dignity

+ Diversity valued

+ Participation and collaboration encouraged

Our priorities + Impact of changes and cuts

to social care

+ Early rapid access to high quality mental health services

+ Shift of services out of hospital

+ Access to quality information

These key priorities guided and informed our work in 2019-20.

Staff, from left to right: Jon Williams, Executive Director, Catherine Perez Phillips, Deputy Director, Lola Njoku, Involvement Alliance Coordinator, Liya Takie, Finance and Office Co-ordinator, Chloe Macri, NHS Community Voice Manager, Kanariya Yuseinova, Volunteer and Enter and View Coordinator, Jamal Wallace, Engagement and Co-production Manager and Mark Drinkwater, Neighbourhood Support Worker.

+ Promote and support people’s involvement in commissioning and scrutinising local health and care services

+ Enable people to monitor the quality of local health and care services and recommend improvements

+ Obtain people’s views on using health and care services, advise on gaps and make people’s views known

+ Publish reports and recommendations on how to improve services and direct these to health and care commissioners, providers, Healthwatch England and other scrutiny bodies

+ Provide advice and information on how to access local health and care services

+ Formulate views on the standard of provision and how it can be improved and share these with Healthwatch England

+ Make recommendations to Healthwatch England and advise the Care Quality Commission on special reviews or investigations

+ Provide Healthwatch England with the intelligence and insight it needs to perform effectively

Our duties

Who we are

98

Your views onhealth and care

What you told us in 2019-20

Trends and Insights

In 2018-19 we identified and analysed 7,602 issues about local health and care services based on feedback from 1,654 people.

Local residents took part in regular feedback panels, reviewing, coding and analysing your feedback with a matrix used by other Local Healthwatch.

+ 34% was collected in person - by outreach, email or phone

+ 36% was collected from social media

+ 30% with 30% from the NHS and Care Opinion

Our analysis suggests:

+ Good quality, compassionate treatment and care

+ Most people feel involved and supported

+ Increasing complaints about service access

+ Notable dissatisfaction with communication and waiting times

How do people feel about health and care services as a whole?

How well informed, supported and involved do people feel?

We use outreach, focus groups, meetings, events, social media and our online feedback centre to capture your views.

60% positive 37% negative

3% neutral

65% positive

33% negative

2% neutral

Overall satisfaction has dropped by 2% this year

Overall satisfaction has improved by 3% this year

3%

2%

76% positive

21% negative3% neutral

60% positive

37% negative

Quality and empathy Access to services

3% neutral

62% positive

36% negative

2% neutral

What else you told us about health and care services...

46% positive

51% negative

3% neutral

Overall satisfaction has dropped by 2% this year.

Overall satisfaction has dropped by 5% this year.

4,479 issues from 924 people:

Positives:

+ Most people satisfied with GP consultations and nursing care.

+ Good levels of empathy, involvement and support.

Negatives:

+ Increase in complaints about booking systems, telephone access and waiting lists.

+ Difficulty in obtaining test results.

Overall satisfaction has improved by 5% this year.

1,449 issues from 315 people:

Positives:

+ Most people satisfied with clinical treatment and nursing care.

+ Good levels of empathy, involvement and support – including for family and carers.

+ Fewer complaints about waiting times.

+ Regional analysis shows A&E, Maternity and Outpatients are among ‘the best’ in East London.

Negatives:

+ Communication remains an issue.

+ Hospital transport arriving late.

Overall satisfaction has dropped by 4% this year.

General Practice Homerton Hospital

Other services

+ Good levels of positive feedback received for Dentists, Sexual Health and Community Physiotherapy services.

+ Communication remains an issue at social care services.

4%

5%

2%

5%

1312

Ageing well event:

The event provided an opportunity for older adults to connect with others to learn about the psychological support available from local IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) providers. It also promoted fun and engaging ways to improve well-being and mental health.

You said:

+ Good feeling of community in Hackney

+ Walking and talking with others works well

+ Would like to see more facilities free for older people

+ Easier access to GPs if needed

+ Conversations and understandings around mental health have improved over time

+ More services and support is available for mental health now than there was in the past

Falls Improvement Programme focus groups:

Prior to the recommissioning of the Community Falls Prevention service, three focus group sessions were held with residents who had experienced a fall or were at high risk of a fall, to discuss the retendering of the contract. Following in-depth discussions changes were made to the service specification. Focus group members also reviewed the bids that were received to run the service.

You said:

+ Classes should be applicable to daily life

+ Classes should be available throughout the borough

+ Regarding classes, community languages, transport and other aspects of access should be considered

+ A questionnaire to be completed would/could help GP and patient jointly assess if they meet the criteria for the classes

+ Community languages and cultural health and social care organisations should be included in any outreach

NHS Community Voice Annual ReportOur successful patient-led project informs local residents and empowers service users to shape health and care services

+ 391 people attended or took part in a NHS CV activity or event

+ 46 people had English as a second language

+ 75 were disabled

+ 74 were carers

+ 111 were from black and minority ethnic backgrounds

+ Average age was 55-70 years old

+ 73% felt better informed post event- evaluation data on average

Our events included:

Let’s Talk Prevention event:

Four health and wellbeing sessions were held to gather residents’ views on the health and social care service provision in Hackney. Over 121 conversations were had.

You said:

+ Community, family, friends, learning, health, volunteering housing, groups and being active were most important

+ You would like to do more exercise and participate in community activities

+ Accessibility of a service is key - low cost, easy to get to with interesting activities that people are signposted and supported to attend

+ Important to have a range of health professionals able to refer people in to the service.

Sickle cell meeting focus group:

A follow-up meeting to discuss previous engagement that was carried out in 2015. The ‘you said, we did’ method is highly valued among the public and should be an instrumental way of closing the feedback loop for all engagement. The discussion and conversation was positive, with each topic and outcome from the 2015 report discussed and then expanded on.

You said:

+ Work still needs to be done around awareness and stigma, especially in education and hospital settings

+ Information and resources need to be shared in a primary care setting

+ Support groups need to develop a closer relationship or partnership with the Sickle Cell hospital staff, so up-to-date information can be shared

+ Greater promotion of the longer appointment times for sickle cell patients and an emphasis on having a relationship with a regular GP.

+ Separate A&E queues for both adults and children.

+ Medical Day Units need to be made more accessible for patients, both in privacy and layout, and opening hours and availability.

14 15

Healthwatch investigatory reports

Healthwatch Hackney investigates a range of health and social care services and issues. The focus of our reports is based on feedback from residents, Care Quality Commission inspections and other sources of information.

Some of this research is undertaken using the statutory legal powers held by Healthwatch Hackney to Enter and View health and social care services and see them in action.

Our reports offer a way for Healthwatch Hackney to identify what is working well with services and where they could be improved.

Full copies of all our reports are available on our website www.healthwatchhackney.co.uk/what-we-do/our-reports/

Hackney Housing with Care service

In November 2018, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected Hackney’s Housing with Care service that provides care to around 230-50 people across 14 units. CQC inspectors rated the service as inadequate, placing it in special measures. In June and July 2019, we visited We visited six housing with care schemes, and went to family and friends meetings, to find out if the council had implemented recommendations from our March 2019 report and from the CQC inspection.

What we found

Positive

+ All residents appeared physically well cared for.

+ All the schemes we visited were clean, tidy and well decorated.

+ Care plans are much more personal.

Negative

+ Most residents were unaware of what was in their care plan.

+ Some residents were socially isolated and care staff had little time to stop and chat.

+ Staff reported feeling under pressure and experiencing stress.

Changes following our visits

+ All service users have a copy of their care plan, and relatives informed.

+ Awareness of befriending service increased with residents.

+ Activity folders and notice boards kept up to date, and in an appropriate and easy to read format.

+ Production of a new Housing with Care leaflet produced to clarify the roles of care staff and housing staff, and who to contact and how for different issues.

+ Recruitment campaign planned increase permanent staff and reduce the use of agency staff.

Oswald Street Day Centre

When we visited Oswald Street day centre, on the 30th October 2019 we found staff to be friendly, motivated and felt they treated people with care and dignity.

Oswald Street Day Centre is Hackney’s only day centre, opened to clients in September 2018 and benefits from a well-designed purpose-built spacious building. It is a well-equipped, modern centre for people with substantial support needs.

What we found

Positive

+ Staff are friendly, positive and highly motivated

+ People who use the centre are treated with care and dignity

Negative

+ The centre was not operating at full capacity (60 people a day). We believe it is vital that staff levels increase in line with the number of people who attend the centre and are pleased that Hackney Council have agreed to keep staffing levels under review.

Changes following our visit

Introduction of enhanced communication methods to help people explain their views, needs and preferences through:

+ Training staff to use Makaton

+ Introducing pictorial menus and user-friendly visual timetables

Lawson Practice

As part of our programme of visits to GP practices across Hackney, we visited the Lawson practice in April 2019 and interviewed 19 patients and the practice manager.

Positive

+ Patients were happy with their practice, thought staff were friendly and helpful and appreciated the spacious, clean environment.

Negative

+ Half of the patients interviewed said they did not find it easy to make routine appointments.

Changes following our visit

Following our visit, GPs at the practice agreed to:

+ Keep the appointments system under constant review to ensure patients are not missing out

+ Update the complaints leaflet

+ Promote the patient participation group

+ Introduce a new system so patients can identify staff by name and role

Abney House medical centre

Abney House Medical Centre closed its doors permanently on 20 October, forcing 2,700 patients to find a new GP. This was the second closure of a Hackney practice in under five months.

Healthwatch Hackney visited the practice on Monday 23 September to find out how patients felt about the closure and how easy they have found registering with another practice.

Patients spoke highly of the staff and were very happy with the quality of care they had received at Abney House. Patients were “gutted it was closing”. One patient said their families had been coming to the practice for 42 years. This patient was yet to register with a new GP, as “I don’t want to change and will prolong it as long as possible”.

GP Practices

16 17

Between 2015 and 2019 the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) funded activities so local migrant groups could help migrants understand and make appropriate use of NHS Services. Healthwatch Hackney, however, was keen to find out if migrants continued to face barriers preventing them from accessing health care. In August and September 2019, we interviewed 54 individuals, accessing support at Hackney Migrant Centre.

It is important that registering with a GP is straightforward and easy as GP practices are the first point of access for health care services. However, 20% of our interviewees were asked for documents such as passports. This barrier makes it difficult or impossible for refugees and migrants to register. As a result, basic health is denied, and minor problems go untreated until they become serious.

Charges for health care are inconsistent and not transparent. Fear of running up a large bill can be a serious deterrent to accessing for example,

antenatal care. This will have an impact not only on the woman but also on her unborn child. Outstanding debts for secondary care can also prevent migrants from regularising their immigration status and getting on with their lives.

We found nearly half of our interviewees had experienced discrimination in accessing services. Fear of accessing services in case they were charged or flagged by Home Office meant that some individuals relied instead on home remedies and prayer. The cost to the NHS in treating conditions at a late stage will undoubtedly be greater than early treatment and preventative action.

Following our research, in November 2019 the CCG wrote to local practices promoting the sign up to the Doctors of the World Safe Surgery initiative, which seeks to ensure that lack of ID or proof of address, immigration status or language are not barriers to patient registration. We hope this goes some way towards addressing the issues raised in the report.

Migrant Health Report GP Practice websites In summer 2019 Healthwatch Hackney reviewed GP practice websites and found that the majority would benefit from some improvement. Most had no information on how to book an extended consultation, for example to discuss more than one health concern, or a more complex problem. We know how important this information is to patients. Short appointment times has frequently come up as a concern when Healthwatch Hackney has interviewed patients at GP practices.

We also found that information on making a complaint was frequently hidden away on practice websites. It is important that it is easy to file a complaint. Few websites provided an online form to simplify the process.

Every GP practice was given individual feedback and we were greatly encouraged that 44% of practices responded positively to our recommendations.

Homerton Hospital Patient Transport In February 2020 two Healthwatch Hackney Representatives took part in a mystery shopping exercise to test the patient experience of using Homerton Hospital patient transport service. This service is vital to patients who are unable manage to get to appointments on their own.

Positive

+ Compassionate drivers with good social skills

+ Clean, well presented vehicles

Negative

+ Old vehicles with poor suspension

Response

+ New vehicles due to be delivered in March 2020.

18

Integrated Commissioning

2019-20 saw further significant shifts to integrate local health and care services. The Integrated Commissioning Board was established led by local councillors and health commissioners. However, this is not the end of the road. This Board is shifting to become an Integrated Care Board and health and care providers will join. Regionally we saw strengthening of coordination and planning of health services across east London.

We played a key and active role supporting and promoting public involvement and co-production across the new system.

Care workstreams

+ Supported public representatives on the prevention, planned care, unplanned care and children’s workstreams generating plans for integrated care

Communications and Engagement group

Co-chaired by our executive director, this group drives communications and engagement across the integrated health and care system. This year the group:

+ Drafted Integrated Commissioning Communications and Engagement Strategy

+ Reformulated the Public Representative s Group, which the Patient User Experience Group merged

+ Supported public involvement in the NHS Long-Term Plan engagement across Hackney and the City of London

+ Supported the engagement on the St Leonard Hospital re-development

Neighbourhoods

This major initiative is strengthening services within primary care so more support can be delivered in the community rather than from hospital.

We supported the Neighbourhoods Residents Involvement Group to assess and support the programme:

+ Supported the Neigbourhood development Team in shaping services, such a mental health, in the new Neigbourhood structures

+ Reviewed the implementation and strengthening of the Make Every Contact Count initiative

+ Reviewed the process of resident engagement to strengthen community involvement

During 2020-21 we will work with local communities to coproduce how they want to be involved with their Neigbourhood Team

Mental health coordinating committee

+ Represented patients along with Mental Health Voice

2019

Core members include:

+ Older People’s Reference Group (OPRG)

+ Health and Social Care Forum (HSCF)

+ NHS Community Voice (NHS CV)

+ Hackney Migrant Refugee Forum (HMRF)

+ Family Action (Social Prescribing)

+ CCG (Patient and Public Involvement)

Through our work we were able to raise awareness of and promote services such as social prescribing and other peer-support and self-management services available in the community.

Engagement and Involvement

Co-produced engagement and involvement activities-built relationships with the wider community gathering feedback to help shape local health services. Overall:

+ 1045 people attended over 38 events and meetings+

+ 70% were female

+ 70% of participants were 60 years and over

+ 40% identified as having some form of disability

+ 55% were from the BAME communities

+ LGBT and non-Christian communities were under-represented

There are concerns that underrepresented groups are unable to feed into discussions to shape health services. The members of the Alliance are working towards developing a more inclusive program of work to increase diversity.

Summer Carnival event

Members of the Alliance showcased their work at the Hackney Carnival and people dropped by to share their health experiences, try out the “Smoothie bike”, hula hoop challenge and sign up as members.

As part of our capacity building and sustainability plan to help communities to develop their skills, we delivered:

+ Adult Safeguarding Awareness: to promote “making safeguarding personal”

+ Appreciative Inquiry Training: to focus on your strengths for a desired change.

Grassroot engagement

We worked hard at building and developing relationships to improve joint working. This year will see more working with the Neighbourhoods to improve engagement and involvement of grassroot communities.

Involvement Alliance Report 2019/20The Alliance members continues to play a key role in supporting engagement across the Integrated Commissioning workstreams and improve patient and public involvement to shape health and social services.

Helping youfind answers

Ways we provide ‘signposting’:

+ In response to calls

+ During outreach

+ From our stall at meetings and events

+ On social media

+ Via our website forms

Our busiest area of signposting was to Advocacy Project, Pohwer and to Volunteer Centre Hackney.

Our top five areas of activity were:

+ Support for disabled residents

+ General enquiries about Covid-19

+ Support for families with children

+ Mental Health services

+ Support with complaints about NHS

services

At the start of lockdown we took the decision to call all Healthwatch Hackney members to check if they needed any help. One of our calls was to a 90 year old member Bob, who was taking warfarin. Warafin requires regular monitoring to ensure the correct dose is being taken. He was extremely worried as he had a hospital appointment at the Wittington hospital for blood tests due but did not know how he might get to the hospital, or whether it was safe to do so.

We contacted the hospital’s anticoagulation team and we were told that a district nurse from Hackney would visit the member in their home to take the blood sample. However, a day before the blood test was due Bob was still waiting for someone to get in touch and confirm the arrangements. The nurse failed to arrive on the day of the appointment and Bob became even more stressed and worried.

We called the anticolagulant team at the hospital to make them aware that no one had turned up in the patient’s house and to ask for clarity around the patient continuing with the same dosage until new blood sample is taken. The hospital was able to call and reassure Bob and the district nurse visited the patient on the next day. Bob called us later to say how grateful he was for the support we gave him.

Name changed for reasons of privacy

Connecting patients with services

We provide advice and information to help local people find health and care services. Last year, more than 630 people found information on health, care and wellbeing services using our signposting service.

Signposting

2221

Richard BanksI had been working on social care projects elsewhere and I thought I should get involved with what’s happening locally. I saw Healthwatch Hackney’s NRIG [Neighbourhood Resident Involvement Group] meetings as an opportunity contribute, to find out about local services, to develop networks and to have creative conversations about local services.

When planning social care and health services, councils and hospitals are concerned with services and how to run them. But people who receive those services are more concerned with outcomes. Traditional service planning tends to ignore the strengths of families and communities.

As part of my role with NRIG I worked with health staff on Anticipatory Care which involved people attending a GP surgery in Hackney. These were older people who had been identified by the GP practice as people who would need health and social care services in the coming years as they would have increasing issues with long term conditions

Health services are based on administrative systems and there can be barriers and blockages. There can also be bits missing. That’s the advantage of having people like us involved as we are not from that health management world and we can ask the questions that make them think about what proposed changes have got to do with people receiving them. On the Anticipatory Care project we found out where there was dissatisfaction with services. I think it was useful being involved. I hope that my involvement was a positive contribution.

It’s been a learning experience to find out about participation and engagement from the ground up and to see how communities and charities can sustain their neighbourhoods. I hope we at NRIG can share our findings about what to do and what not to do. None of us at the NRIG meetings are there because we are told to be there, we do it because we want to be involved.

Vernita Babe Satta DaudaHWH: What is your most recent work experience?

Dauda: I currently work part time as a Reablement Support worker.

HWH: How long have you been volunteering for Healthwatch Hackney?

Dauda: I started volunteering with Healthwatch Hackney in February 2020

HWH: Why did you choose to join Healthwatch Hackney?

Dauda: Initially I applied to volunteer with Healthwatch Hackney to fulfil my University’s requirement to undertake a three month placement. However, as I read about Healthwatch Hackney knew this is where I wanted to be long term. I was impressed with how engaging with community members and hearing their experience enabled services to identify gaps in provision and informing decisions regarding the improvement of health and social care services across the borough. Working with Healthwatch Hackney will I’m sure help me gain insight of health and social care provision and outcomes across the borough, as well as developing professional and employability skills

HWH: What do you enjoy most about volunteering at Healthwatch Hackney?

Dauda: I really enjoy meeting and interacting with residents, who share their views and opinions, both positive and negative, about services. I strongly believe that community members should have a voice in decision making in relation to services provided by the local authorities, and other groups.

HWH: What impact has volunteering for Healthwatch Hackney made on you?

Dauda: The coronavirus outbreak has limited my volunteering, however, the work I have undertaken has had a significant impact on me.

I have attended a People’s feedback panel meeting to code feedback. Despite being a new volunteer on the panel with limited experience I was listened to and made to feel as a valuable member of the team. Working alongside Kanariya during a comment collection and signposting session at Homerton hospital has helped enhance my interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence and active listening skills, as I talked to diverse groups of people with different needs and reactions.

HWH: Do you feel supported by the organisation?

Dauda: I feel very much supported. At the time I started volunteering I was going through bereavement and Kanariya was incredibly supportive and understanding. She has also called me during this crisis period to check on me and my family making me feel a part of the team.

I strongly believe that community members should have a voice in decision making in relation to services provided by the local authorities, and other groups

I’ve worked in social care in east London in 1971. I got involved with Healthwatch Hackney in 2018 when I went to a health meeting and heard about the Neighbourhoods project that was involving local residents in planning how to help develop services.

Our People

2423

How we make decisionsHealthwatch Hackney is a community interest company (CIC) governed by its board of unpaid directors who live or work in the London Borough of Hackney.

The board provides strategic direction to the organisation and ensures we meet our statutory and contractual obligations.

Decisions are made by our board and its sub-committees with some decisions delegated to the executive director.

How we ensure transparency To ensure decision-making is transparent, the board:

+ Meets in public

+ Publishes board minutes and agendas

+ Widely promotes board vacancies

+ Holds formal interviews for prospective board members

+ Holds an annual general meeting in public

Rupert Tyson, chair Previously chaired Hackney Homes Anthonia Onigbode, treasurer Chief financial officer Hackney Co-operative Developments

Malcolm Alexander Chair, Patients’ Forum for the London Ambulance Service

Paula Shaw Well Street Surgery patient participation group Stepped down July 2019

Heather Finlay Lecturer in health and social care Stepped down December 2019

Lloyd French Community activist with interest in race equality

Sarah Oyebanjo Works for the British Society of Rheumatology

Cassandra Lovelock Phd student interested in carers, mental health and coproduction Joined January 2020

Saleem Siddiqi Former mayor of Hackney Joined November 2019

Yas’ina Christopher Former nurse and sickle cell activist Joined November 2019

Our volunteersHealthwatch Hackney cannot deliver its work without our fantastic volunteers. Many volunteers go on to paid work. Last year 43 volunteers provided 2,299 hours of unpaid support including:

+ Enter and View visits

+ Board membership

+ Public representatives on key health committee and groups

+ Collecting public feedback

+ Event organisation and administration

Our board

Our People

25

Our Finances

Income 2019-20 £

2018-19 £

Funding from local authority to deliver local Healthwatch statutory activities

150,000 150,000

City of London Corporation 8,677 62,553

NHS clinical commissioning group projects 224,136 117,343

Other income 7,065 1,684

Total Income 389,878 331,580

Expenditure

Operational costs (including project direct expenses) 73,281 42,526

Staff costs 282,669 201,189

Premises / office costs 17,367 19,170

Healthwatch City of London 11,660 68,272

Total expenditure 384,977 331,157

Balance brought forward 4,901 423

Front cover photo: Sean Pollock Production artist: Atakan Mercan Additional photography: Mark Drinkwater, Natalia Perez-Phillips, Sean Pollock

This report is published on our website and shared with Healthwatch England, the Care Quality Commission, NHS England, Health in Hackney scrutiny committee and City and Hackney clinical commissioning group. © Healthwatch Hackney 2019. CIC No: 0845746Hackney

Contact usHealthwatch Hackney

1st Floor, Block A St Leonard’s Hospital Nuttall Street London N1 5LZ

020 3960 7454

info@healthwatchhackney.co.uk

www.healthwatchhackney.co.uk

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @HWHackney

Please contact us if you would like this report in another format.

4546