Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Newsletter: January 2026
Healthwatch Tower Hamlets welcomes you to read: ✨The January edition of our newsletter✨
Healthwatch is an independent organisation that champions the views of health and social care service users. We strive to make sure that health and social care services are meeting local needs and ensure that the public's voice is heard.
Table of contents
- Community Events & Training
- Latest Reports
- Winter Healthcare Updates
- Volunteering Opportunities
-
Services in Tower Hamlets
Events, Surveys & Training
🌸Let's talk about Perimenopause & Menopause!🌸
Let’s Talk About Perimenopause & Menopause!
Menopause is a natural stage of life — but the journey through perimenopause and menopause can feel overwhelming without the right support. That’s why Healthwatch Tower Hamlets is inviting you to share your experiences.
We want to understand:
✔️ What symptoms you’ve faced
✔️ What support has (or hasn’t) worked for you
✔️ How services could better meet your needs
This survey is open to:
👩 Women
⚧️ Transgender men who are not fully transitioned
🌈 Some non-binary people
Why take part?
Your voice matters. By sharing your story, you’ll help us:
Improve support services in Tower Hamlets
Raise awareness of the challenges people face
Ensure that everyone is equally supported in managing their symptoms.
Do you know someone living with dementia or MS?
Are you living with dementia or multiple sclerosis (MS)? Do you identify as belonging to a minority group or have faced challenges navigating healthcare services due to your personal characteristics?
The Dementia and Neurodegeneration Policy Research Unit (DeNPRU-QM) at Queen Mary University are inviting service users with dementia or MS, as well as family carers, to take part in an interview.
The interview can be done at home, online or over the phone and participants will be offered a £35 voucher as a token of appreciation for their time!
For further questions about the interview or the work that DeNPRU-QM does, please contact denpru@qmul.ac.uk for further details.
Share your views on the use of AI in healthcare settings!
The Patients Association is looking to gather patient perspectives on how AI is regulated in healthcare through this anonymous survey! ✨
Closing date: Friday 23rd January
Your perspectives will help form a response to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) call for evidence on the regulation of AI in healthcare🩺
AI is set to play a major role in the way that healthcare is designed and delivered so make sure your voice heard in shaping how this technology is implemented!💻
Share your experience as a cancer patient living in Tower Hamlets!
Event Time & Location:
Date: Tuesday 27th January 2026
Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location: Osmani Centre 58 Underwood Rd, London E1 5AW
Do you have a National Cancer Patient Experience Survey (NCPES)? Come along to this drop-session where we can help you complete the survey (on your phone or paper)!
The session is open to Women, Men and Carers living in Tower Hamlets. Community languages spoken and light refreshments will be provided.
Only 11% of Asian patients complete the survey - share your experience and allow services to get it right for our communities!
Free Tower Hamlets health champion celebration and learning event
Event Time & Location:
Date: Thursday 22nd January 2026
Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Location: London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Town Hall
Join us at the Tower Hamlets Community Health Champions Event to celebrate volunteers who improve health🎉
Come along and connect with passionate locals and senior leaders who care about health and wellbeing!
Enjoy a free lunch, certificates and the opportunity to share knowledge and network.
Don't miss out - this event is all about celebrating volunteers, learning, connecting and getting involved!
Tower Hamlets Antenatal Getting Ready to Breastfeed (In-person Workshop)
Event Time & Location:
Date: Thursday 29th January 2026
Time: 17:30 PM - 19:30 PM
Location: Tower Hamlets Town Hall
Come along to this Antenatal breastfeeding workshop for expectant mothers (32-34 weeks) and their partners, living or giving birth in Tower Hamlets!
This sessions aims to help you understand how breastfeeding works, what to expect and how to help your baby to breastfeed in the hours, days and weeks after the birth.
There is limited space on these free sessions so reserve your spot now!
Come along to this monthly sewing and upcycling session!
Event Time & Location:
Date: The last Monday of each month, starting 26th January
Time: 7-9 PM
Location: St Vincent's Portacabin, Trinidad Street, E14 8AB
Come along for a relaxed session where you can connect with your neighbours and learn simple ways to make something new out of your old clothes - no sewing experience needed!
Our Recent Activity✨
Healthwatch Tower Hamlets at the Annual Safeguarding Adults Board Conference 2025
- On 18th November 2025, the team at Healthwatch Tower Hamlets attended and presented at the Annual Safeguarding Adults Conference.
- The focus was on Transitional Safeguarding this year. We were offered a valuable platform to present findings from our Preparing for Adulthood - Young People with SEND research project.
- Our report outlines practical recommendations to help services better support young people as they move into adulthood.
- Thank you to everyone who attended and continues to champion safer, more supported transitions for young people with SEND. 🌟
From Local Engagement to Global Advocacy: How Healthwatch Tower Hamlets Prepared Parismita for the United Nations
At Healthwatch Tower Hamlets, volunteers play a vital role in amplifying the voices of our local community. They develop essentials skills, gain experience and make a lasting difference.
One of these volunteers is Parismita, who has kindly written about her journey from Healthwatch Tower Hamlets to the United Nations.
Read on to learn more about her experience!
Latest Reports📃
We recently published our Patient Experience Report for July-September 2025!
Our patient experience programme gathers feedback from patients accessing health and social care services in Tower Hamlets. We then produce a quarterly report that analyses the data and summarises our findings!
Read the report below to see our key takeaways:
Read Our Patient Experience Report Here!
Supporting Heart Health - Health Improvement Offer for Men with Cardiovascular Disease
Based on feedback from residents and stakeholders, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets decided to focus one of its research projects for the financial year of 2024-25 on the Health Improvement Offer for Men with Long-term Conditions Management in Tower Hamlets.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is an umbrella term for conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), hypercholesterolemia (excessive cholesterol), and stroke.
Healthwatch Tower Hamlets spoke to men of all ages from a wide range of backgrounds diagnosed with CVD to understand their experiences of accessing services that support them to: follow a healthy diet; stay active and exercise; lose weight; stop smoking; and reduce harmful alcohol consumption.
Read our report about the experiences of men with cardiovascular disease accessing support programmes and activities to manage their condition.
Supporting Heart Health Report
Big Mouth Tower Hamlets Project - Highlights
Oral health isn’t just about teeth — it’s about dignity, confidence, and community.
For too long, oral health research has focused narrowly on disease outcomes — ignoring the social, cultural, and emotional factors that define how people actually experience oral health. Big Mouth Tower Hamlets set out to change that through creative, inclusive methods like body mapping and community conversations, engaging seldom-heard voices across the borough.
All of the insights from the community participants can be read in the report below.
Winter Healthcare Updates🩺
Quicker treatments and support for health workers as AI tackles A&E bottlenecks
Patients may be seen quicker this winter as hospitals across England increasingly use artificial intelligence to help predict when A&E departments will be at their busiest.
This A&E demand forecasting tool uses health data to highlight regular points of high demand, then produces 'forecasts' for the coming days and weeks which hospitals can use to operate more effectively.
In the short term, this tool will allow for shorter wait times for patients during busy periods and in the long term, it will allow for smarter planning for bed space and NHS staff shifts.
This forecasting tool is already in use across 50 NHS organisations!
Hundreds of thousands of young children to be vaccinated against chickenpox
The NHS’s vaccination programme is expanding to include chickenpox (also known as varicella) for the first time to protect young children from getting seriously ill.
From now on, GP practices will start to offer children a combined MMRV vaccine to protect against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox at their routine vaccination appointments.
The new vaccine is expected to save the NHS £15 million a year in costs for treating the common childhood condition.
It will also mean children miss fewer days off school, and parents take fewer days off work to care for them.
Government extends free NHS services for young people leaving care
Young people in care face a tough start in life and often get a lack of support upon turning 18. The government is now taking action to tackle the barriers of opportunity faced by young people leaving care!
✅By providing free prescriptions, dental and eyecare services up to their 25th birthday.
✅By bringing in new safeguarding measures to give GPs a clearer picture of those in care, helping to stop them falling through the cracks.
✅By trialling paid internships for care leavers in the NHS and a guaranteed interview scheme for NHS roles, helping more care leavers into work.
NHS North East London launches new AI initiative aiming to reduce need for unplanned emergency care
This initiative aims to better support people with long-term conditions, like asthma, subsequently helping them avoid the need for unplanned emergency care.
Using advanced AI screening technology, patients who can benefit most will be identified and offered personalised phone-based clinical coaching from healthcare professionals trained in delivering preventative care.
The programme is estimated to lead to a possible reduction of 13,000 A&E attendances annually.
At a time when demand for emergency care services in the area is at an all-time high, this new initiative could be groundbreaking!
Volunteering and Work Opportunities📣
Become a SEND Champion Today and Make a Difference!
Women's Inclusive Team are looking for local Somali-speaking volunteers to support families with children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
By becoming a SEND Champion, you’ll help connect families with the right information and services in Tower Hamlets, making a real difference in the community!
If you’re interested, please get in touch with Ilham Yusuf on
07508 906082.
Work with us!
Partner with us
If your organisation would like to partner with us on a particular project, please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you about potential opportunities to work with local organisations and teams.
If you wish to talk about commissioning a piece of work please contact the team.
Join our team
We advertise our vacancies on a variety of websites. Please visit www.uk.indeed.com, www.charityjob.co.uk or www.jobs.thirdsector.co.uk and search for Healthwatch Tower Hamlets or Your Voice in Health and Social Care (YVHSC) to locate details of our opportunities.
Internship Opportunities
Healthwatch Tower Hamlets service benefits from internship placements throughout the year!
Candidates get involved in all aspects of the Healthwatch service, from outreach and engagement, to running focus and supporting research studies, participating in Enter & View visits and writing up reports and findings.
Our internships are managed through the YVHSC Volunteer Hub. Please contact the Hub on vip@yvhsc.org.uk or 020 3886 0839 for more information.
Click here for further information
Volunteer with us!
Volunteer with Healthwatch Tower Hamlets and boost your CV!
Volunteering with us will help you learn new skills or develop existing ones and gain valuable work experience. We provide training in research, data analysis, report writing and much more!
For further information contact our volunteer hub on: vip@yvhsc.org.uk or info@healthwatchtowerhamlets.co.uk Call: 07944931223
Click here for further information
Charity Worker Discounts✨
Join over 104k+ charity workers today!
Whether you work or volunteer for a charity, they have a huge range of discounts, money-saving deals and vouchers, from discount holidays and money off fashion fixes, through to deals on gym memberships, mobile phones, and utilities.
Click here for further information
Help to make a complaint
We understand that complaining about NHS or social care services can feel daunting. Check out our top tips and guidance to help you through the process.
Cost of Living Crisis
At Healthwatch Tower Hamlets we want to support our residents during this difficult time when energy prices and the general cost of living have increased. We have put together a list of support services and organisations that are offering residents help with food and energy bills, as well as advice on things like debt and money management.
How we help you at Healthwatch Tower Hamlets
If you’ve recently visited your doctor, or local hospital, or used any health and care services in Tower Hamlets we want to hear from you.
Whether you’ve had a good or bad experience, we can use your feedback to improve services for everyone and we have the power to make NHS leaders and other care providers listen to what you have to say.
We’re completely independent and impartial and anything you say is confidential. Our service is free, simple to use and can make a real difference to people in Tower Hamlets and beyond. For information and signposting service, contact us via our freephone 0800 145 5343, or email us info@healthwatchtowerhamlets.co.uk
