News and reports

A new report into the impact on Barnet care homes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We asked Barnet residents and people who use health and social care services in Barnet about their experiences of accessing health and social care services during Covid-19 pandemic.

This annual report highlights the work delivered during the year ending March 2020. By being a bridge between commissioners, service providers and the public, Healthwatch Barnet have been able to make meaningful changes to services in the borough.

Our Enter & View team visited Catherine Lodge as part of Healthwatch’s planned series of visits to Care/Nursing homes in Barnet. Catherine Lodge is an independent family run care home for the elderly, located in North Finchley.

Our Enter and View team visited Friary Lodge as part of Healthwatch’s planned series of visits to Care/Nursing homes in Barnet. It is a registered care home providing support to 15 older people.

Our Enter and View team visited this home as part of Healthwatch’s planned series of visits to Care/Nursing homes in Barnet. Abbey Ravenscroft is part of the Abbey Total Care Group situated in a quiet and scenic location in a leafy part of Barnet.

What happens when a GP wants to refer you to a specialist? They send the referral to the Referral Management Service. The RMS team send the patient a letter within three weeks of the referral explaining how to book an appointment,online or via phone.

During February and March 2019, we conducted a survey with patients attending A&E departments in the Royal Free Hospital Trust. Our team of staff and volunteers visited the Accident & Emergency Departments at Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital to gather the views of over 500 patients. The main objective was to identify why people were coming to A&E.

All Barnet GP practices have access to language interpreters through Language Line Solutions; an over the phone interpreting service. However, we have received anecdotal feedback that this interpreting service is not widely used by GPs.

Our annual report shows how our Healthwatch Barnet team of volunteers and staff have been at the forefront of changes brought about in the health and social care services, bringing local voices and experiences to the attention of decision makers.

This visit to Cricklewood Walk-in Centre, was a follow up to the visits made in January and March 2018 and was arranged with the recently appointed Practice Manager to discuss the recommendations of those reports. The report also talks about the future of the centre, which is on the border of Barnet, Brent and Camden. We were told that about half the patients come from Brent, about 40% from Barnet and 10% from Camden.

In summer and autumn 2018, we were contacted by community organisations, individuals and some GP staff about the difficulties patients were experiencing in using hospital transport for their journeys to and from Royal Free Hospital sites.