Healthwatch Network Awards 2021: Shortlist announced

The Healthwatch Network Awards showcase where Healthwatch have gone above and beyond to make sure health and social care services meet everybody's needs.

We’ve had some fantastic entries this year - from providing a lifeline to local communities during the pandemic to championing accessibility. Check out who has made the shortlist for our five categories this year.

Celebrating our volunteer team

• Healthwatch Brighton and Hove volunteers for helping to improve people’s experience of leaving hospital.  
• Healthwatch Islington Digital Champion volunteers for improving the skills of people digitally excluded so they could still access vital services during the pandemic.  
• Healthwatch Surrey young volunteers for working with local NHS decision-makers to improve mental health services for 16-25 years olds.  

Tackling inequalities

• Healthwatch Blackpool for continuing to talk to homeless people during the pandemic about the issues they were experiencing, such as being unable to access cancer screenings.
• Healthwatch Lancashire for working with Black Caribbean men to understand their experience of using NHS services and how their life experiences have affected their wellbeing.
• Healthwatch Leeds for highlighting the concerns of care home residents during the pandemic and helping to develop a plan for how families could safely visit their loved ones again. 

Engagement

• Healthwatch Cornwall for helping local NHS decision-makers understand people’s experiences of using mental health services and support during the pandemic.
• Healthwatch North Yorkshire for ensuring local-decision makers understood the challenges people were facing to see an NHS dentist and the changes needed to improve access.
• Healthwatch Reading for highlighting the issues asylum seekers were experiencing during the pandemic when trying to get healthcare.

COVID-19 response

• Healthwatch Brighton and Hove for making over 1,700 welfare calls to people after they left hospital, signposting them to community support for food, mental health services and other specialist support.
• Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Healthwatch Peterborough for improving people’s experience of being discharged from hospital. 
• Healthwatch Essex for increasing awareness of the experience of people living with sensory impairments and the unique challenges they faced during the pandemic.
• Healthwatch Reading for launching a prescription delivery service, using staff and volunteers to make over 1,100 drop-offs to shielding, self-isolating or vulnerable people.
• Healthwatch Richmond upon Thames for providing clear, concise and accessible information on COVID-19 restrictions and vaccinations, focusing on people who are digitally excluded and marginalised groups.

Working with your Integrated Care System

• Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham, Healthwatch City of London, Healthwatch Hackney, Healthwatch Havering, Healthwatch Newham, Healthwatch Redbridge, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets and Healthwatch Waltham Forest for providing fast, regular and comprehensive insight about people’s experiences of care with their Integrated Care System, helping to develop services that meet the needs of their diverse population.
• Healthwatch Bexley, Healthwatch Bromley, Healthwatch Greenwich, Healthwatch Lambeth, Healthwatch Lewisham and Healthwatch Southwark for creating a new job role across all six Healthwatch, ensuring patient feedback is shared with their Integrated Care System, while allowing each Healthwatch to continue working on local priorities.
• Healthwatch Blackburn with Darwen, Healthwatch Blackpool, Healthwatch Cumbria and Healthwatch Lancashire for working together to become the go-to organisation for public engagement in Lancashire and South Cumbria.