Learning from Covid by building trust
Background
The Covid-19 pandemic both increased health inequality and shone a spotlight on it.
It revealed that black and Asian communities in particular were reluctant to take the Covid vaccine due to a long-standing lack of trust in the healthcare system as a result of their lived experience.
We need health and care services that work equally for everyone and in which everyone feels confident.
That means taking a new approach towards shaping and providing healthcare, with residents, community groups, the NHS and councils working in real collaboration.
Not yet another report but real action.
Building Trust project in H&F
This is why, in Hammersmith & Fulham, the council has instigated a Building Trust project with local residents, community groups and NHS North-West London.
Beginning with black residents, local people will tell their stories face-to-face to those in the NHS and council who plan and provide our local health and care services – people in positions of authority who have the power to change things for the better.
The aim is for these sessions, which are being led by the borough's voluntary and community sector, to create a shared understanding of how difficult issues like structural racism and poverty affect residents' experiences of health and care services and the outcomes they get.
The next step will be to make the improvements needed, with residents and the people who run local health and care services genuinely co-producing this.
The outcome should be better services for everyone, leading to greater trust in the health and care system by people who currently feel less well treated as a result of their background.
Cllr Ben Coleman, Deputy Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council
H&F, in partnership with NHS NWL, community groups and local organisations ran listening events throughout June and July 2023 to hear the communities health and social care challenges. Below is a list of the work we've done.
Building Trust Project in numbers…
- 50+ people trained in facilitation, listening and emotional awareness.
- 2 training providers (Community organisers & Apricot Wellbeing)
- 13 listening events completed.
- 12+ community groups and partners (Imperial College, Invention Rooms, QPR, TRA, 245 London)
- 250+ attendees and views shared (young people, old people, sickle cell, mothers and those with mental health)
- 500+ discussions on health and social care improvements throughout the project with including Senior NHS managers and local community.
- 1000+ responses to questions
- 13 community reports produced
- 13 key themes and several sub themes captured
- 21 solutions and 4 key priorities identified (maternity, prostate, creation of a Black Health Panel and mental health)
Need more information?
Please contact Sam Lewis at samuel.lewis@lbhf.gov.uk or call 07788 416 386.
