1. Pharmacy services in Islington

    Report -

    We surveyed 117 local residents to see if they were aware of additional services available from local pharmacies

  2. Black and minority ethnic groups accessing services in Islington 2016/17

    Report -

    207 local residents gave us their views on pharmacy, lifestyle and well-being, A&E, interpreting services, and GP referrals.

  3. Emergency department, general practice, or pharmacy services?

    Report -

    A number of people use hospital emergency departments when they could be seen by a GP or in their local pharmacy. What factors influence how we decide where we need to be seen?

  4. Black and minority ethnic groups accessing services in Islington 2015/16

    Report -

    Local residents gave us their views on hospital appointments and patient choice, GP services, and keeping fit and healthy.

  5. Islington Patient Group November 2019 supporting materials

    Report -

    Find materials for this meeting of the Islington Patient Group.

  6. Should I see a pharmacist instead of a doctor?

    Advice and Information -

    Avoid the wait at the GP and know when to visit your pharmacist instead. Look at how your pharmacist can help you.

  7. What are people telling us about e-consult?

    News -

    For patients who are comfortable using computers e-consult can be a convenient and user-friendly method of getting in contact with the GP surgery. For patients who struggle with or cannot use computers, e-consult can be a serious barrier to access.

  8. Winter Wellness fact sheet

    Report -

    Correct as of 26 January 2022

  9. What medical support are you entitled to if you’re new to the UK?

    Advice and Information -

    For new arrivals to the UK it can be confusing where to go if you need medical assistance. Here we outline your rights as a refugee, where you can access emergency help and how to register for a GP.

  10. Find out about high blood pressure

    Advice and Information -

    One in five people in Islington have high blood pressure but only half know that they do. Left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to heart attack and stroke. The only way to find out whether you have high blood pressure is to get it measured.

  11. Spotlight on volunteering

    Blog -

    Jenni volunteers as a Health Champion. As Covid restrictions ease we are looking forward to getting back out into the community and speaking to local residents again.

  12. Healthwatch hypertension information campaign kicks off in style

    News -

    Our staff and volunteers have been offering free blood pressure tests and raising awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure at Callyfest and on Chapel Market.

  13. Mystery shopping the accessibility of Islington pharmacies

    Report -

    Healthwatch Islington volunteers and staff visited 40 Islington pharmacies. The aim of these visits was to observe the physical space of the pharmacy and comment on its accessibility.

  14. Healthwatch volunteers visit pharmacies in Islington

    News -

    Our volunteers visited local pharmacies to see how accessible they were for people in wheelchairs or with limited mobility.

  15. Support for stopping smoking

    Advice and Information -

    Stop smoking services are free, friendly, and can massively boost your chances of quitting for good.

  16. Pharmacy services: discovering what's on offer in Islington

    Advice and Information -

    You might be surprised by the range of support that's available from your local pharmacy. Residents on low incomes who are classed as socially vulnerable can access free medicines for minor ailments.

  17. Residents from communities experiencing health inequalities share feedback on health services

    Report -

    We asked people about their experiences of seeing a GP, using pharmacy services and getting treatment for Long Covid.

  18. Choose the right NHS service for you and your family

    News -

    The Royal College of Nursing has announced that members will take strike action from Sunday 30 April to Monday 1 May 2023.

  19. Residents rate pharmacy services highly and see them as the easiest health services to access

    News -

    Many of the people we spoke to wanted to see pharmacies offering more preventative and diagnostic services. Health checks, blood tests, and cholesterol tests were services people said they could access more easily at a pharmacy.

  20. Feedback on smoking cessation and pulmonary rehabilitation services in Islington

    Report -

    We spoke to 98 smokers and ex-smokers from communities experiencing health inequalities.

  21. How can you save money on your Hormone Replacement Therapy?

    Advice and Information -

    A new scheme could see women across England save hundreds of pounds yearly on their Hormone Replacement Therapy with a prepayment certificate.

  22. Residents give feedback on support services for stopping smoking

    News -

    We spoke to 65 residents from communities experiencing health inequalities. All were smokers or ex-smokers. Few had taken up the offer of support to give up.

  23. Celebrating the work of Healthwatch with diverse communities.

    Blog -

    Yussuf Ahmed is the Coordinator at Islington Somali Community, an organisation belonging to our Diverse Communities Health Voice partnership. In this guest blog, Yussuf talks about the benefits of the collaboration.

  24. Our annual report 2022-2023

    Report -

    It's been a great year of growth for Healthwatch Islington. We are the independent champion for people who use health and social care services in the borough.

  25. Healthwatch tackles high blood pressure

    News -

    We helped over 1,300 people improve their understanding of hypertension and identified over 130 people with undiagnosed hypertension, whom we were able to point in the direction of their GP or community pharmacy for further tests.

  26. Raising awareness of hypertension in Islington

    Report -

    We helped over 1,300 people improve their understanding of hypertension.

  27. Support offered at GP practices for patients with autism

    Report -

    Mystery shoppers called GP practices posing as newly arrived Islington residents looking for a practice which could accommodate their child’s needs. They stated that their child had a diagnosis of autism.

  28. How do our GP practices make their services accessible?

    News -

    Our volunteers visited all the GP practices in the borough to get a sense of how easy it is for them to meet the Accessible Information Standard.

  29. Women at the Islington Bangladesh Association are using their smartphones to stay healthy

    News -

    Women who participated in the Log On project told us what they have learned.

  30. Urgent and same day GP services

    Report -

    Feedback from patients at the Angel Medical Centre walk in service, and from the wider community

  31. The walk in service at Ritchie Street gets good reviews from patients

    News -

    We interviewed 48 patients using the walk in service at the Ritchie Street Health Centre.

  32. Community research 2018

    Report -

    Self-care, social issues affecting health, and care delivered closer to home

  33. Local organisations publish joint report showing how their communities experience health services

    News -

    Diverse Communities Health Voice gathers the views of black and minority ethnic communities that don't speak English as a first language.

  34. How well do local health and care services support the needs of people with autism?

    Report -

    Throughout the Autumn of 2016 we spoke with Islington residents with Autism Spectrum Condition, and with their families.

  35. Revisiting the IHUB GP extended hours service

    Report -

    The IHUB is a new service. It runs out of three centres across Islington. It offers weekend and evening appointments and is open to anyone registered with an Islington GP.

  36. GP services for Islington residents in residential care

    Report -

    We spoke to care home residents, next of kin, and staff about their experiences of GP services that are delivered in the care home setting.

  37. Access to primary care and social care services for Latin American Over 50s

    Report -

    We worked with the Latin American Women's Rights Service (LAWRS) and the Coalition of Latin Americans in the UK (CLAUK) to gather views from Islington residents

  38. I-HUB GP extended hours service

    Report -

    The IHUB offers weekend and evening appointments and is open to anyone registered with an Islington GP.

  39. Mystery shopping: Healthcare Travel Costs

    Report -

    Healthwatch mystery shoppers phoned GP surgeries and visited local hospitals to see how easy it was to make a claim for reimbursement under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.

  40. GP online services in Islington

    Report -

    To gather local people's views on the online GP appointment booking service, we created a survey.

  41. Experiences of Integrated Care

    Report -

    Gathering views on Multi-Disciplinary Team pilots

  42. Customer Service in GP reception areas

    Report -

    A mystery shopping project

  43. Interpreting services in GP practices

    Report -

    A mystery shopping project

  44. More feedback about urgent and same day GP services

    Report -

    We went back to Ritchie Street to talk to more patients, particularly young adults, using the walk in centre. We also held a focus group for Deaf patients, and visited GP surgeries to see how easy it was to register as a patient.

  45. Seven things Deaf patients told us about GP services

    News -

    We held a focus group with Deaf patients in December 2108. We discussed GP services broadly. We also gathered views on urgent and same day services in particular.

  46. Talking to even more patients at the walk in centre on Ritchie Street

    News -

    The Health and Care Scrutiny Committee asked for more information on how changes to the way urgent appointments are accessed would affect patients currently using the walk in centre.

  47. People with learning disabilities give their views on emergency care

    News -

    Whittington Health is planning how best to deliver services in the future. To help with this, they asked us to speak to local residents about a range of issues.

  48. NHS Long Term Plan

    Report -

    Local Healthwatch from Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington organised surveys, focus groups and interviews to find out what people thought of existing NHS services and to get ideas on how to make services better.