We were proud to host Healthwatch England Chair Sir David Croisdale-Appleby on Tuesday.
As the head of Healthwatch he makes a point of visiting as many local Healthwatch as possible – we were 102!
Sir David joined us for our first Let’s Talk Women’s Health event at Space2Create in Kendal, which brought together 18 women (and a couple of blokes!) from across Westmorland and Furness, along with representatives of local charities, Westmorland and Furness Council, NHS Trusts, Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Community involvement
In autumn last year we held a survey and focus groups asking about priorities for women’s healthcare. This even was the opportunity to not only thank everyone who took part but to share our findings, but bring people together to start direct communication.
After a shared lunch and an introduction by Sir David, we split into three groups to:
• Reveal the top women’s health priorities identified in our 2024 survey and focus groups.
• Open the floor for discussion and ideas: how to turn feedback into action?
• Explore what meaningful change might look like so that, together, we can drive the improvements women deserve.
Our impact
By bringing together patients and members of the public with system representatives we are helping women to be heard by our local NHS, and supporting them to influence future women’s health services. Our event also provided greatly-appreciated peer support, something that we all agreed we want to keep going. We also invited women there to be part of project group to take this work forward.
Sir David pledged to tell Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, Baroness Merron, about our work, and how inclusive our event was, involving women with many other lived experiences, including learning disabilities, adverse mental health, and neurodiversity.
Sir David made a valuable contribution to the discussions, noting the impact of ‘prolonged and enduring’ anxiety and depression on women’s lives, and that discourses are based on male understanding of healthcare, not women’s.
Kate, our manager, said:
“This was a wonderful event to showcase how we work at HWW&F to the Chair of Healthwatch England. This is someone who meets regularly with Government, including Wes Streeting, and NHS bosses. Someone who really can make a difference.
That Sir David praised the inclusivity of our project and event, valued what he heard and will use it to champion women’s health at the highest levels, is a brilliant affirmation of the value of local Healthwatch. We are looking forward to working with everyone at the event to really make a difference in 2025 and beyond.
I’m so proud of the HWW&F team and all they’ve achieved. Thank you so much to everyone for coming, and for making such valuable contributions to conversations."
Sir David was in the North West specifically to visit the Healthwatch Together collaborative, of which we are a member.