Well Newham Challenge

The Council’s Public Health Team is working with Newham Hospital to run the Well Newham Challenge programme in the hospital. The programme funds and supports hospital staff to pilot new interventions that aim to improve the health of Newham residents by addressing the non-medical, social factors that can impact their health and wellbeing for up to 12 months. All projects taking part use quality improvement (QI) methodology and are supported by both QI and public health team members.

The programme empowers and supports hospital staff in all roles, and at all levels of seniority, to harness their expertise and experiences to improve the wider, holistic care provided to Newham residents. The ultimate aim of these projects is to further support the people of Newham in looking after and improving their health, and where possible, to reduce their need to visit a healthcare professional. 

Speaking on the collaboration, Councillor Neil Wilson, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, London Borough of Newham said: “We’re very excited to be working with colleagues from Newham Hospital on the Well Newham Challenge. One of our ambitions as a council is to improve the health of our residents, and working with our local hospital, harnessing their knowledge and understanding of patients’ needs, is a great way to do this.”

Current projects

Cohort two of the programme is currently underway, having started in November 2023. The three projects in this cohort are:

  • Embedding a trauma informed approach to working with high intensity users in the emergency department
  • Developing a support group for people who have lost pregnancies
  • Providing Bangladeshi speaking patients with the opportunity to speak to a Bangladeshi anaesthetist to alleviate concerns before surgeries

Previous projects
 

Cohort Project Description Progress and outcomes
1 (2022-2023) Screening for social prescribing need in a cardiovascular clinic using an online questionnaire tool
  • Pilot identified 45% of people sent the survey registered, and 50% of this population completed the survey. 56% of respondents were flagged for concern about social deprivation and 68% reported financial distress or hardship.
  • Journal article written to capture and share lessons learnt in relation to digital exclusion and the risks of conducting screening tools with carers / partners of the patient
  • The work completed as part of the Well Newham Challenge enabled the team to obtain funding to recruit a Social Prescriber placed within the cardiovascular team
1 (2022-2023) Bangladeshi Diabetes Carb Swap Booklet
  • Designed the booklet in partnership with the community and with patient input
  • Booklet is available in English and Bangladeshi
  • Booklet is in the process of being approved by the hospital to allow sharing as part of ongoing and business as usual care
1 (2022-2023) Newham-Specific, Translated Bowel Cancer Screening Flyer
  • Developed a short and simple flyer that explains the bowel cancer screening process
  • Translated into Bangladeshi, Sylheti, and Urdu
  • Tested the flyer and translations with patients to ensure it was acceptable
  • Flyer is in the process of being approved by the hospital for wider sharing and use
1 (2022-2023) Translated Pharmacy Labels
  • 3 month pilot to test use of translated pharmacy labels for outpatient and emergency department patients
  • Data collection underway and final report to be shared summer 2024
1 (2022-2023) Gestational Diabetes Peer Support Project
  • 3 month pilot of peer support programme in partnership with Social Action for Health
  • Provided support in English, Urdu and Bengali across drop in sessions and a whatsapp group. Drop in sessions included diet advice as well as exercise sessions. Participants reported improved confidence in self-managing their diabetes as well as an improved understanding of healthy foods and effects of stress on blood sugar control.
  • Currently exploring options for funding to enable a 12 month pilot

 

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