Annual Report 2016/2017

Summary

The past year has been an exciting and challenging year for us. Much of our work has been around increasing our engagement with children and young people, with a special focus on emotional well-being and obesity. We have also worked hard at developing our volunteering programme, whilst keeping a focus on primary care. 

Our work with young people has enabled us to engage with approximately 2000 children between 8 to 19 years of age and we have formed close partnerships with local schools and community groups.

The support of our volunteers is invaluable and we now have a weekly presence in all libraries throughout Bexley where our volunteers work hard to raise the profile of Healthwatch and to gather people’s views on health and social care services.

We continue to work hard to ensure that seldom heard voices are represented and taken into account by commissioners and service providers. We are working in partnership with Bexley Mencap and the Speaking up group from Advocacy for All, to conduct Enter and Views within General Practices (GPs) in Bexley to improve access and the experience of primary care. 

Our relationship with stakeholders, locally and regionally, has continued to develop and strengthen, and we are active partners at many forums, meetings and events. We also work closely with our fellow Healthwatch colleagues in South East London.

We know we face some great challenges going forward, but our commitment to local residents, to influence and improve how health and social care services are delivered, will continue to drive our priorities and work ethics going forward.