Welcome to the August issue of your Healthwatch Barnet newsletter

This month's newsletter is full of news and updates, including special events from our partners. Included in this issue:

• Introductions
• Core 20 Plus
• Barnet Patient Voices are looking for new members
• Wellbeing Service Review
• CPR Community Network
• What social media platforms interest you?

As always, you can get in touch by email or phone if you would like to share your views on health and social care in Barnet.

Introductions

 Alice has joined Healthwatch Barnet as our Volunteer Coordinator. She has a background working with volunteers to organise events and is passionate about mutual aid and networks of care. Alice enjoys bringing people together to build community and collaboratively solve problems.

Alice brings her own experiences as a disabled person to the role, and her professional background in advocacy, having worked with migrants, disabled people and survivors. Alice has experience working in DDPOs (Deaf and Disabled Person's Organisations) and is thrilled to join a team that operates within the Social Model of Disability.

Core 20 Plus

Our community connectors have been out across the borough offering residents a free blood pressure check. These simple checks help highlight the risks of hypertension and provide information so that people can manage their lifestyle. This might be diet and exercise or in some cases a trip to the GP. We've had a great response to this campaign and you'll be pleased to hear they are out on the road still. Here are two upcoming events:

• We have an event on the 23rd of August in partnership with Age UK Barnet, at Ann Owens Centre, Oak Lane, N2 8LT from 10:00 to 16:00.
• We will be at Urban Gamez from 12:00 to 17:00 on the 25th August at Heybourne Park, Colindale.

For more information about our Core 20 Plus project, please see the link below.

Barnet Patient Voices Group

Here at Healthwatch Barnet we like to promote and support the involvement of people in the commissioning and provision of local care services and how they are scrutinised. This month we have an opportunity for you to get more involved in the work of Barnet Hospital.

The Barnet Patient Voices Group (BPVG) is a group of patients and carers who have an interest in Barnet hospital. It is run by the Barnet Hospital patient experience team. The group meet each month online for an hour and a half to discuss the latest projects taking place at Barnet hospital and to offer their views. They ask members for a minimum commitment of attending 6 out of the 12 meetings a year. Interested in finding out more? Please read their activity information sheet and if you'd like to apply to join our group, please contact Barnet Patient Voices Group at rf.bh-patientexperience@nhs.net for an application form and to discuss any questions.

For more information, please see below.

Wellbeing Service Review

Barnet council’s commissioning team is conducting a series of engagement and co-production activities aimed at gathering valuable insight and feedback to inform future commissioning activities. They want to hear your thoughts on the Wellbeing Services in the borough and want to gather diverse perspectives and experiences so please do take the time to let them know what you think by completing the short form below whether you have used the services or otherwise.

Please see the button below to give your thoughts on the Wellbeing Services.

CPR Community Network

The Healthwatch Barnet team all have lived experience of disability and our parent organisation Inclusion Barnet is a "Deaf and Disabled Person's Organisation". We are pleased to share this information which will help Deaf people gain assistance in the case of cardiac arrest.

The CPR Community Network is a partnership between St John Ambulance and the NHS.

The main aim of the network is to increase out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in England and to ensure that no one dies through lack of Emergency First Aid provision or resources, in their local area and in their community. St John's Ambulance service has released the latest in a number of resources aimed at empowering communities and increasing their ability to respond and give basic life support to increase a casualty’s chance of survival. As part of this work they have released a British Sign Language Emergency First Aid film, featuring Deaf Actor, Alex Nowak, and Deaf/Hard of Hearing First Aiders within in St John to create a powerful resource so that Deaf people know what to do if they find someone in cardiac arrest.

They worked in collaboration with 999 BSL, which is an Ofcom registered Emergency Video Relay Service (VRS) that connect a Deaf person to emergency services via a British Sign Language interpreter.

To view these resources, please see the link below.

What social media platforms interest you?

In light of Twitter changing the way people view posts, we are looking to diversify our social media offerings. We want to pose the following questions:

• Which social media platforms do you use for health and social care information?
• What types of content interest you? 
• What platforms interest you? 
• What else would you like to tell us? 

Please click below to fill in our quick survey