Year: 2017

Last month we launched our annual report for 2016 / 17. This year we focused on the ‘power of partnership’. We’ve successfully worked in partnership with local organisations, including working with mental health users on a unique project to record their experiences on changes to their service.

We’re pleased with the partnerships we’ve forged and it will help us to ensure that local people’s voices are stronger in the delivery of health and social care services.

On June 25 Lindy Maqhubela our Communications Manager and Anna Wright, our Deputy Director and Policy Lead manned a stall at the South End Green Festival. They were joined by our enthusiastic volunteers.

Part of our remit is to sign post people to suitable health and social care services in Camden, so we got the chance to hand out leaflets about us and our role and also chatted with lots of local people.

As usual we got feedback via our ‘Your Voice Counts’ survey which is an opportunity for local people to let their voices be heard on services provided.

Social prescribing, sometimes referred to as community referral, is a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services.

Because our health is affected by our social circumstances, social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. It also aims to support individuals to take greater control of their own health.

This years’ Volunteer Week is on 1-7 June. We want to thank all the fantastic volunteers who’ve helped us at community events and our stalls around Camden.

On Monday 15 May we attended the Camden Dementia Awareness Week Conference and Bazaar at the London Canal Museum. Victoria, our Project Officer, gave out information outlining what we do and how we can help people with dementia and their carers’ get their voices heard in the provision of services.

Monday 26 June 2017 is the date of our Community Conversation and AGM. Local people, community and voluntary organisations are invited. Join the conversation on health and social care provision in Camden. We’ll also be launching our annual report so you’ll get an idea of what we’ve been up to.

The venue is:

St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre

2 Ossulston Street

London

NW1 1DF

Time: 4.15pm – 7.30pm

Speakers include:

April signaled the start of a new work year for Healthwatch Camden. This will be our fifth year, so we are no longer the new kids on the block, we are an established part of the landscape in Camden. Yet nothing stays still, and we know we always have to work to stay relevant and to stay effective.

So we will be redoubling our work to reach more of Camden’s residents and to make sure that what we do is based on what is important to people who use Camden’s health and social care services.

Healthwatch Camden is looking for a Camden resident to lead our board of trustees.

The new Chair will replace our founding Chair who is stepping down after four successful years.

We want someone with insight and energy to champion the voice of local people in health and social care services in Camden. To find out more, please download a copy of the role description here

Healthwatch Camden is working with four other local Healthwatch in North London (from Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Islington) to make sure that local people get a real say in how services change in the next few years.

NHS organisations and councils across the five boroughs are creating a big plan (called the Sustainability and Transformation Plan) to improve the way services fit together. The aim is to improve support for people at home so that fewer people need to use hospital services.

Over the summer months we attend lots of local events and festivals around the Camden borough, so we need volunteers to help us out at stalls.

You’ll join us at lively community festivals from June to August and help us to collect local people’s views on health and social care services in Camden. If you enjoy speaking to people and want to do your bit for the local community, we’d love to hear from you.