Healthwatch Waltham Forest wins prestigious national award
- Local health champion wins ‘Working with your integrated care system’ category in major national awards scheme
- Award recognises Healthwatch Waltham Forest for collaborating to provide fast, regular and comprehensive insight about people’s experiences of care
Healthwatch Waltham Forest has won a prestigious national award for joining forces with its neighbouring Healthwatch (Healthwatch Barking and Dagenham, Healthwatch City of London, Healthwatch Hackney, Healthwatch Havering, Healthwatch Newham, Healthwatch Redbridge and Healthwatch Tower Hamlets) to provide fast, regular and comprehensive insight about people’s experiences of care to North East London Health and Care Partnership which will help it develop services that meet the needs of its diverse population.
The eight local Healthwatch jointly won the ‘Working with your integrated care system’ category in the Healthwatch Awards 2021, which were run by Healthwatch England this week. This virtual event celebrated the difference Healthwatch’s 4,300 staff and volunteers made over the past year and Healthwatch Waltham Forest was one of only a handful of local Healthwatch to win an award out of a total of 152 across England.
Commenting on the award, Healthwatch Waltham Forest Operations Manager, Althea Bart said: “I am delighted that Healthwatch Waltham Forest with North East London Healthwatch colleagues and the North East London CCG/ICS have won this award. It is an example of what we can achieve when we work together better.”
Darren Morgan, developer of the Community Insight System said: “I’ve been working with Healthwatch Waltham Forest for almost ten years, during that time they have strengthened links with neighbouring offices and have forged close working relationships. It is this partnership, along with our technology, that has enabled recent and ongoing success.”
Sir Robert Francis QC, Chair of Healthwatch England, said:
“The last 16 months have been a time of unprecedented challenge as we all grappled with the impact of COVID-19, yet Healthwatch across England all rose to meet that challenge magnificently and went the extra mile to look after their local communities in a moment of crisis.
“The Healthwatch Awards have been a fantastic chance to showcase how Healthwatch makes such a difference to people’s lives and Healthwatch Waltham Forest’s tireless work for its community during the pandemic is a perfect example of this. I would like to congratulate the Healthwatch Waltham Forest team for their achievements and dedication to the local people they serve.”
Sir Robert added: “The awards also serve to highlight how, by sharing your experience with Healthwatch or giving up your time to volunteer, you can make a real difference to your community.”
The award was presented during Healthwatch Week – a virtual conference celebrating the vital work of Healthwatch which featured high-profile speakers including NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard and historian and BAFTA award-winning TV presenter Professor David Olusoga.