If you could change just one thing about health and care services, what would it be?
At the beginning of July each year we like to spend a week out and about in the borough, meeting people who haven't heard about Healthwatch and letting them know what we do.
Our team of staff and volunteers gave blood pressure checks to over 400 people over the course of the week. Did you know that one in five people in Islington have high blood pressure? Many don't realise they have the condition which if left untreated can lead to heart attack and stroke. 124 of the people we checked had high blood pressure readings and, for 30 of them, this was not something they had expected. We advised those with high readings to visit their GP or a local pharmacy to have their blood pressure checked again by a medical professional and get treatment advice. Find out more about high blood pressure.
Just one thing?
To better understand key issues in the community, we asked people to tell us one thing that the council or health and care services could do to make their lives easier.
110 people told us about a change they would like to see. Most of the feedback was about health and health services (63 comments) but people also raised concerns about the cost of living (20 comments), housing (10 comments), and social care (5 comments). 12 people gave feedback about other topics such as air quality, transport services, and digital inclusion.
We will share what we've heard with decision makers so they can better understand what local people need from services.
Employers of a certain size, say more than 50 employees, should provide a couple of hours protected time for exercise every week. It should be regarded in the same way as jury service. The only way to fix the NHS is to keep people out of it.
What's your one thing?
Tell us one thing that the council or health and care services could do to make things better for you and your family.
