Over the four years that we have been a service dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of the community affected by Grenfell, there has been much feedback gathered during public meetings, appointments with NHS staff and from feedback surveys that residents have participated in.
Some of that feedback on what the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service could do to improve has been:
- More coproduction with local organisations
- More joined up services
- More culturally appropriate services
- Making the Service more visible in the community
- Having a service that reflects the diversity of the community
There are also a number of issues which will have an impact on the recovery of the local community, such as environmental issues related to air and soil toxicity, the ongoing Public Inquiry and the future of Grenfell Tower itself. All of these need to inform the mental health response.
In January 2019 NHS England launched its Long-Term Plan, which sets out the national perspective of how the NHS wants to improve care for patients over the next 10 years. Many of its priorities are aligned with the feedback received from the local community, including promoting more integrated services and supporting people to take more control of their own health. (see NHS’ Community Mental Health Framework for Adults and Older Adults).
Prioritising issues around accessibility for all, we will need a front facing, community collaborative entity that aims to immerse itself in the community, amplify the voices and health issues arising, identify self-defined solutions and inform the delivery of care going forward.
To address this feedback and enable us to increase our collaborative work our aim is to create a new way of working that focuses on empowering the community to shape and own its health and wellbeing services, through active participation. To begin this journey, we have hired five Community Connectors, who will aim to ‘walk the journey of care with the client’, preventing community disconnect, social exclusion, drop out or disengagement with a main aim of optimising the CNWL experience and thus improving the reach and quality of the service. They will also be the first point of call for collaborations with resident groups/associations and local organisations supporting RBKC residents.
To discuss an idea for collaboration or just find out more about what we can offer please fill out this form.
