Glittering night as KCHFT scoops three Healthwatch awards

Delivering NHS health checks to fishermen in Ramsgate was just one of the initiatives that earned Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) three Healthwatch Recognition Awards.

The awards, hosted by Healthwatch Kent and Healthwatch Medway, recognise outstanding work from health and social care organisations that champion the involvement of patients in improving and delivering services.

For our innovative NHS Health Checks Team, they knew they had to find ways to reach people who wouldn’t access their service through a more traditional route, like at a GP surgery. Instead, they delivered a health ‘pub crawl’.

NHS Health Checks Programme Manager Kimberley Lloyd said: “Making sure everyone has access to healthcare is an essential part of our work.

“We know for people like the fishermen we met in Ramsgate, who have very busy and demanding jobs, we have to think differently and not expect them to come to us. So we took our service to them. If you want to meet a fisherman, head to the harbour, so that is where we delivered our health ‘pub crawl’.

“We are so proud of this award which recognises excellence in ensuring equal access to services.”

KCHFT also won two awards in the collaboration category. The first for our Patient Engagement Team, which worked with volunteers John and Lyn Gallimore from our People’s Network and IC24 to create a training resource to support services to engage with patients and carers to improve and develop healthcare services.

The second, for a community event in Folkestone last November which brought together more than 20 organisations to help people stay well through winter.

In response to mounting winter pressures and the impact of the cost of living on our communities, East Kent Health and Care Partnership tasked KCHFT with delivering an outreach event to support people and promote alternatives to A&E.

This partnership, made up of NHS community, acute and mental health providers, as well as Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Social Enterprise Kent, Kent County Council and a whole host of voluntary and community groups, provided advice and support for more than 300 people.

Karen Sharp, Programme Director, East Kent Health and Care Partnership, said: “The number of people we supported at the winter well event was brilliant.

“We provided NHS health checks, specialist respiratory advice, urgent care signposting, children’s flu vaccinations, health and wellbeing services, benefits and safety advice as well as free hot drinks and winter coats.

“We created a one-stop shop for people struggling with the cost of living and rising energy prices.

“The scale of what we delivered was made possible because we worked together to support the Folkestone community, so it is fantastic that has been recognised with this Healthwatch award.”

Find out more about the NHS Health Checks Programme.

Interested in joining our People’s Network? Find out more.

To hear more news from the East Kent Health and Care Partnership, subscribe to the newsletter.

Congratulations to our award winners: NHS Health Checks Team, Patient Experience Team and volunteers John and Lyn Gallimore and the team behind the East Kent Health and Care Partnership Winter Well event.