News
Helping local residents from refugee and migrant communities use their smartphones to stay healthy
An innovative partnership between Healthwatch Islington, the mobile phone provider Three, and six local community organisations launched yesterday at...
Feedback from the community influences future plans for pharmacy services in Islington
Healthwatch Islington's recent research suggests that many local residents aren't aware of the wide range of services offered by pharmacies...
Healthwatch mystery shoppers investigate support available for autistic patients from Islington GPs
Last November, Healthwatch mystery shoppers called GP practices posing as newly arrived Islington residents looking for a practice which could...
Islington residents urged to become Dementia Friends
People in Islington are being encouraged to sign up to become Dementia Friends to help increase understanding of dementia and turn it into action to help people in their community living with the disease. Dementia is arguably the biggest health crisis facing the UK. There are currently 665,065...
'I felt like a parcel that was dumped' - unsafe hospital discharge in Islington
Last week Healthwatch England announced the launch of their special inquiry into unsafe discharge from hospitals, care homes and mental health secure units. The inquiry identifies some of the most vulnerable groups in society - mental health patients, the homeless and the elderly - as being most at...
Your views and how we use them: local hospitals
‘There seems to be a real lack of communication and organisation within hospitals. I would not comment on the clinical side of things, but processes do not seem to be efficient. There is a big issue with cleanliness, infection and MRSA in this country. In my country (Morocco) doctors and all...
People's inquiry to uncover pitfalls of discharge from hospitals and care homes
Tens of thousands potentially being sent home without proper support Mental health patients, the homeless and the elderly most at risk Consumer champion to launch patient led Special Inquiry to investigate Healthwatch England is today launching its first ever special inquiry to find out why things...
Our information service has helped with 80 cases in the last three months
'If you hadn’t rung me, I would still be at home not knowing what to do. I had tried contacting many agencies but nobody got back.' Islington resident thanking staff at Healthwatch for their help. (We’ll always ring you back) ‘It’s great to have a central service for older people to go to for...
Healthwatch Islington's work is mentioned in the House of Lords
'I also notice work in York, Wakefield, Staffordshire, Enfield, Islington and Stockport. All of those local Healthwatches are doing good work in their areas. I hope that the Government will listen to what Healthwatch is saying and act on some of its recommendations and proposals.' Lord Hunt of...
Making decisions for adults and keeping them safe
Islington Carer's Hub produce a e-mail newsletter that you can subscribe to via their website . Thanks to them for sharing the details of this upcoming event. This is not a Healthwatch event, the text is taken from the Islington Carer's Hub newsletter. NHS England advice event Many of you are...
Camden and Islington NHS Trust to be inspected in May
The Care Quality Commission will be inspecting the Camden and Islington NHS Trust on 27 May 2014. The trust provides mental health, social care and substance misuse services to a combined population of 426,000 people – mainly in Camden and Islington. If you are an Islington resident and you have...
Steering Group - Election Results
Thanks to all of you that voted for the candidates you wanted to see on Healthwatch Islington's steering group. Disability Action in Islington, Body and Soul, and Age UK Islington have all been all re-elected, and Islington Carer's Hub joins the steering group for the first time. From those who...
The Making it Real Board is recruiting Experts by Experience
Who or what is 'Making it Real'? Islington Council is working together with service users, carers and partner organisations on a new programme called Making it Real. This is about putting people who use services at the centre of planning their care and support. Do you have current or recent...
Healthwatch England is conducting a complaints survey
Healthwatch England is conducting a complaints survey to better understand people's experiences of health and care complaints. They want to hear about people's experiences of raising a concern or complaint with a GP, hospital, care home, dentist, optician, home-based carer, or any other provider of...
Local hospitals need to offer a better service to Deaf people
Press release The Whittington, the Royal Free and University College London hospitals need to do more to meet the needs of Deaf service users, says Healthwatch Islington. The local consumer champion for health and social care has written to the chief executives of each hospital this week,...
Health and care complaints system is 'utterly bewildering' for people
The concerns of users and worried family members looking to complain about the service they have received from their local hospital, GP or care home, are going unheard because the current system is simply too complex. Healthwatch England's work to map the complaints landscape has shown a staggering...
What to do if you are unhappy with the NHS
Healthwatch Islington has been looking into complaints. You may remember, for example, our mystery shopping project investigating how easy it was to find information about making a complaint to your GP surgery. Typically you make a complaint direct to the organisation that is providing the NHS...
Nearly a fifth confess to knowingly using A&E for non-emergencies
18 per cent of people admit to having knowingly used A&E for a non-emergency at some point in their lives, according to new survey findings by Healthwatch England.* 1 in 4 respondents said it is likely they would resort to using A&E in the future if they were unable to get a GP appointment...
How can hospital services for Deaf people be improved?
Healthwatch Islington is now talking to local hospitals about ways to improve the experience for Deaf service-users. We are discussing our recommendations with representatives from the Whittington, the Royal Free, and University College London Hospitals. We held a listening event back in January (...
Future Matters - new Islington project helps with planning for the last years of life.
Planning for the future could be anything from making a Will to completing an Advance Care Plan, and can remove anxiety about what the future might hold. Future Matters is a new Islington project with trained volunteers who can provide information and support. For example, Anne, in her 80s, had had...
Islington Patient Participation Groups: Locality Meetings planned for March
What's a Patient Participation Group? A Patient Participation Group is a group of patients interested in health and healthcare issues, who want to get involved with the running of their local GP practice. Check the Islington Clinical Commissioning Group website for more details. What is a Locality...
Healthwatch working with community groups in Islington
Healthwatch Signposting and Outreach Officer Sarah Lee (right) chats with Islington Bangladesh Association Advisor Mushina Akhtar at a session we delivered at the Hugh Cubitt Community Centre in early February. 1) We are training staff and volunteers at local voluntary and community organisations...
Care.data - do you need to opt out?
‘Once again the NHS has decided it knows best and is ploughing ahead with plans to share this data whether we like it or not. To make matters worse, the communications around this have been so poor that we are now in the situation where all of us are about to be automatically opted in to a scheme...
How should pharmacy services be developed?
A discussion event is taking place on 27th February 2014 Friends House 173-177 Euston Road London NW1 2BJ Tel: 020 7663 1094/1095. 7.00pm-9.30pm Refreshments will be served from 7pm. The purpose of this event is to stimulate debate in local communities, to shape local strategies for community...
Healthwatch raises concerns over plans to share our personal medical records
Despite a nationwide mail-out campaign, people are still largely in the dark about plans to share their personal medical records. Almost a quarter of the local Healthwatch network have raised concerns in the last few days over NHS England’s attempts to explain the care.data programme, which they...
Interested in Mental Health Services?
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health, social care and substance misuse services to a combined population of 426,000 people – mainly in Camden and Islington. Mental health and substance misuse services are provided to adults (including older adults), people with learning...
Listening to Deaf service users in Islington
In January Healthwatch Islington hosted an event bringing together Deaf service users with staff from the Whittington, Royal Free and University College Hospitals. This was an effort to address some of the negative experiences that Deaf patients have reported when using local hospitals. The meeting...
Healthwatch Undercover: Mystery Shopping
"If there's a problem with their treatment patients want clear and simple information about how to complain and the process should be easy to navigate. A recent national report has called for greater transparency in the way the NHS deals with complaints. We wanted to see how well we were doing in...
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