Annual Report: 2023-2024

How we’ve made a difference throughout the year from April 2023 to March 2024:

• 2,472 people shared their experiences of health and social care services with us, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care.
• 87 people came to us for clear advice and information about topics such as mental health and the cost-of-living crisis.
• We published 16 reports about the improvements people would like to see in health and social care services. Our most widely read report was Social Prescribing which investigated how social prescribing was working in 2022 – 2023 in Bromley.
• We responded to King’s College NHS Foundation Trust, St. Christopher’s and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust’s Quality Accounts, and One Bromley’s South East London Strategy, Joint Forward Plan, and Bromley 5 Year Strategy.
• We embarked on a new research project on ophthalmology services (OS) available to Bromley residents. We produced a report which includes key findings and recommendations. Survey responses indicated that service users are broadly satisfied with the range of services available, but case studies showed more negative aspects.
• Our second research study this year focuses on working age adults aged 18-66, receiving community mental health support for more than 12 weeks or who have been discharged from this care within the last six months. Data analysis and report writing began in April 2024 and we plan to distribute our findings and recommendations in the summer.
• The HWB representative on King’s Mental Health Advisory Group was asked to join a patient safety/quality improvement project at Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH), following incidents on a ward involving patients with mental and physical health needs, including a patient with a serious mental illness admitted through the Emergency Department (ED), as part of the rollout of the new Patient Safety Incident Framework (PSIF).
• Patient and carer feedback about the new non-emergency patient transport service (NEPTS) and new national standards suggested this might be a research project for 2024 – 2025, so we undertook a scoping exercise to examine the issues. This was led by two HWB committee members working with GP practice Patient Participation Groups (PPGs), enabling us to build relationships with PPGs across Bromley (also to benefit future HWB work).