Welcome to the June 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
• Men's Health report
• Pride Month
• Volunteer vacancies

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

We have 2 new Healthwatch Barnet Managers.

Jon joined Healthwatch Barnet in April 2023 job sharing the Manager’s role with Sarah Campbell.

With a background as a voluntary patient advocate and ‘Expert by Experience’ within Mental Health services he is passionate about the social model of disability, particularly in respect of those less visible disabilities.

His 30 years of lived experience with a severe and enduring mental health diagnosis means that he knows what it is like to feel unheard by services. He is keen to represent the views of local people and make sure they are involved at all stages in the co-production of the care and support they need.

Sarah Campbell (she/her)

Sarah joined Healthwatch Barnet in May 2023, bringing 15 years of experience in engagement, research and advocacy. She is passionate about supporting local people to influence the design and delivery of health services in Barnet and nationally.  

Before joining Healthwatch, Sarah led a number of successful projects working with diverse groups to change policy and practice. This included action research with social housing residents, refugees and survivors of domestic violence. She is proud to be working in a disability-led organisation, and is keen to use her personal and professional experiences to serve the residents of Barnet.

Men's Health Report

We have published our Men's Health report. Our Men's Health project was started due to a growing concern around the number of men who received poor health outcomes and the low take up of primary care access. 

This is available on our website or via the button below.

Pride Month

As it is Pride Month, we wanted to highlight the inequalities LGBTQ+ individuals face when receiving healthcare, such as higher rates of mental health issues and poorer experiences when trying to access care. Under the Equality Act 2010, all individuals are entitled to receive equal care. 

We wanted to remind you that we have vacancies for representation within our volunteers for individuals who are LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and the + includes all other identities such as Non-binary, Pansexual, Asexual and many other identities). We are also looking to reflect the diversity of London and to hear from all people with protected characteristics, so get in touch via the button below.