We are a trusted source for health and social care providers in Enfield seeking independent patient feedback on their services. Providers tell us they value our collaborative approach to helping them improve and co-design their services.
Get in touch to discuss how we can support you to deliver patient centred services.
Quantitative and qualitative research
We collect feedback from thousands of local residents and patients each year through our extensive community outreach and engagement programme. We use highly regarded methodologies to supply independent evidence that allows providers to ensure patient views are considered in the decision making process when changing or developing services.
‘Special mention should be made of the response received as a result of work by Healthwatch Enfield, who produced their own questionnaire and materials summarising the draft case for change and ran a series of local events, a number of which were attended by members of the programme team. This generated a significant number of comments’.
At any given time we can draw on independent, local and national data about patients and service user experiences. As part of the National Healthwatch Network all our data feeds into national statistics which likewise informs our own priorities, helping us to be proactive about investigating services where things are not going well.
Our statutory powers
We have strong relationships with a number of key service providers in Enfield. Whilst we do have statutory powers to enter and view publicly funded health and care services, our preferred approach is to work collaboratively to support the provider in bringing about improvements through co-design, wherever possible. Many local services are open to working with us because we have a proven track record of helping them improve their services through co-design.
Emerging from the Health and Social Care Act 2012, local Healthwatch were set up in every local authority area, to help put patients and the public at the heart of service delivery and improvement across the NHS and social care services. In total, there are currently 152 local Healthwatch across England, facilitated and led by Healthwatch England.
How we impact and influence
We have a seat on numerous health and social care boards and committees in Enfield, as well as representing Healthwatch and local residents at a North Central London level, which includes the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Haringey, and Islington, as an equal, but independent partner. Within Enfield this includes the Health and Wellbeing Board, as well as many other key boards and committees. It is our job at these meetings to speak up to help raise awareness of the views and experiences of patients and local residents we hear from.
We often put forward suggestions which help to influence decisions being discussed at the time and we challenge where necessary. We also encourage ‘co-design’ wherever possible, to help design and plan new services or changes to services.
'Healthwatch Enfield have produced an independent report on the Royal Free London proposal. The report was published with the recommendation that the 0800-2200 opening hours at CFH UCC are maintained and that awareness of the service is raised in order to maximise this resource.'
Commissioned work
Every Healthwatch in England is funded by its local authority but remains independent. We rely on extra funds through taking on commissioned work.
We use highly regarded methodologies to supply you with objective feedback to help inform your strategies. We also have a proven track record in setting up and facilitating co-design projects to deliver successful outcomes within budget and on time.
‘It was a fantastic presentation and it definitely made the residents of the Enfield ladies (Turkish) community more knowledgeable about the ‘awareness of cancer’ and the signs to look out for, as the residents struggle to speak English’
Our annual conference
Every year we bring together local residents, health and care professionals working in the borough, at our annual conference for meaningful discussions around a high profile topic.
For 2024 our conference topic was ‘GP Access Made simple.’ We heard from General practitioners across the borough, local health services, explaining forthcoming changes to local services such as GP practices, hospitals and pharmacies. Feedback was gathered from all those who joined us, via an interactive question and answer session. We are working hard to ensure these key messages raised by local people are being shared with relevant health and care organisations who deliver services.
Read more about our 2024 annual conference
Our 2024 event focused on ensuring that GP Access is made simple, We implemented a Question & Answer session for the local residents so that their concerns and feedback were heard. This session helped the local residents to have their questions answered and their feedback acknowledged by those who work hand to hand with patients of the enfield community.