Reaching out to our local community

We strive to make sure we hear from as wide a range of our diverse community as possible. We want to tell the people who make decisions and change things about the experiences everyone has with health and care services. 

We understand that factors such as culture, location, wealth, education, environment and discrimination can lead to worse health outcomes, and we support the strong consensus that this must change. At Healthwatch Hackney, we stand ready to help by doing more to amplify the voices of communities that go unheard and reduce the barriers they face. 

""

GP registration 

We have investigated GP registration processes four times. We found barriers such as asking of ID and proof of address, none of which are required by the NHS. Following our most recent investigation all GP practises committed to not asking these questions, and many signed up to the safe surgery scheme.  

 

""

Making hospital discharge safer

Following coproduction work between our team of public reps and the discharge team working to improve the experience of patients as they are discharged from inpatient stays, one of our own public representatives used the service and had this to say. 

I was discharged from Homerton a week ago and I just wanted to let you all know it could not have gone any smoother. Discharge letter and drugs appeared together and I was asked all pertinent questions. I want to thank [the discharge service at Homerton] for listening to us and changing how discharges happen. It made such a difference. It also makes me and my group feel valued.