Healthwatch Lancashire: Making local voices count

In June, Healthwatch Lancashire organised and hosted a dedicated Women’s Health event to showcase the findings from our recent project, Talk to Us: Women’s Health. The event was designed as a space to share what we learned, reflect on the experiences local women had shared with us, and discuss the next steps needed to improve women’s health support across Lancashire.

The day also brought together a range of local women’s health and wellbeing charities, giving them the opportunity to connect with the public and highlight the services, advice, and community support available. 

More than 40 members of the public and professionals attended, representing a wide mix of roles, organisations, and lived experiences. And since then, we’ve seen positive examples of further activity taking place across the county- work that has been inspired, supported, or encouraged through the conversations and connections made on the day.

We also gathered valuable feedback on several elements of the event, helping shape how we continue this work going forward.

A member of the PF Self Advocacy Group in Lancaster and her mum recently met with the team to discuss ongoing challenges during hospital treatment. They reported issues including a lack of autism awareness among staff and important personal needs not being listened to or met.

During the meeting, the family were introduced to the hospital passport as a tool to help communicate needs and ensure reasonable adjustments are recognised. A copy was shared with them following the discussion.

Shortly afterwards, the mum provided an update, explaining that they had completed the hospital passport and found it extremely useful. She noted that they had been unaware of the resource previously and felt it would make a positive difference to future appointments.

This support helped the family feel more confident navigating healthcare and strengthened their ability to ensure the individual’s needs are clearly understood.

We strengthened internal. communication across Healthwatch Lancashire by helping the team to understand ow to communicate more effectively with one another. This created clearer expectations, a more supporting environment and a culture where everyone feels heard. 

We also invested in staff wellbeing through dedicated team afternoons that encouraged connection, reflection and shared learning. These sessions gave staff space to recharge, build relationships and support one another, that ultimately contributes to a healthier and more resilient workplace.