Healthwatch Leeds is committed to a great vision -
'Healthwatch Leeds gives people a powerful voice on health and social care
services in Leeds and beyond. Healthwatch Leeds helps the people of Leeds to
get the best out of their local health and social care services, whether it's
improving them today or helping to shape them for tomorrow. Healthwatch Leeds
is all about local voices being able to influence the delivery and design of
local services. Not just people who use them, but anyone who might need to in
future'. Healthwatch is the official body that represents patient voice and concerns
in the field of health and social care. Its work is vital and everybody in
health and social care should actively and positively welcome it.
Healthwatch Leeds contacted York Street Practice as it needed to
produce a report on homeless people and health in Leeds for the Health and
Wellbeing Board. The two agencies had already met and were both committed to
the provision of the best patient care and experience possible in the city. In
the conversation about the report, York Street decided not to host the event
for the voice of the homeless to be heard. The reason was we wanted a neutral
place where our patients could speak and be as open and honest as possible. We
discussed with two key partners in the city - St Anne's Resource Centre and St
George's Crypt. They agreed to host the event where Parveen Ayub, Community
Project Worker, and volunteers at Healthwatch could meet homeless people and
talk to them about health issues and services in Leeds. This work was supported
by the agencies involved. It was written into a report that was presented to
the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board. The report looked at difficulties
homeless people encounter when accessing health and social care services and
the impact it has on their health and well-being. The report supported outcome
5 of the Leeds Joint Health and Well-Being Strategy 2013-15. In this way the
voices of those who have few to speak for them was presented to the key
strategic health and social care body in Leeds. The homeless were heard!
To us this linked together many key needs. These include; positive partnerships between health and patient groups, allowing the patient
to be heard in neutral but supportive environments that they trust, for patient
groups to reach out to where people are, for those without power and a voice to
be supported so their voice and needs are heard and for the leading authorities
in the city to have this presented to them so they can feature it into their
work for the whole city. This circle approach - from patients to strategy -
from patient groups to health services - from the creation of positive space
where dialogue can occur to changes in the system - all offer great hope and
models of how we can work.
This is how we can make Leeds the best city for health
and wellbeing. It's a tremendous thing that we can work to make sure that not
only the poorest receive healthcare the fastest but that their voice can be
heard quickly through initiatives such as this. This might be the first time in
the UK that Healthwatch and a health service have written a joint article
celebrating joint great work and offering a key model of how we can work for
the vulnerable. If it isn't the first time that's good. If it is, that's
something good too. We see what we have tried to describe as best practice for
those most in need now and a promise what future work can look like. Hearing
the homeless and vulnerable is how we work for best services.
Parveen Ayub -
Healthwatch Leeds
John Walsh - York Street Health Practice
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