Healthwatch Southwark can help you navigate the health and social care system in the following ways:

  • Find the right health and social care service
  • Give you information about local health and social care services
  • Inform you on how to make complaints about the care you receive

Please visit our ‘Advice and Information’ pages for more information.

What is our service:

  • A free, friendly, and confidential service that is independent from the NHS and social care services.
     

  • We will perform a signposting role only. This means that we will give you the contact details for a range of services that best supports your request. You will then need to contact those organisations yourself.
     
  • We can give you information about choices you have with regard to where you might get help in relation to your health, social care and wellbeing needs.
     
  • We can put you in touch with sources of information on NHS and social care services in Southwark.
     
  • We can give you information about what to do when things go wrong, and you don’t understand how to make a complaint.

 

What our service is not:

  • Our service is not supported by trained clinicians or health and care professionals. It means that we cannot offer advice on clinical matters. This might include advise and information about medication, queries about a diagnosis made by a doctor or recommendations about a choice over a particular treatment pathway.
     

  • We are not a part of the NHS or Southwark Council. Whilst we will use your feedback to improve services, we have no powers to investigate individual formal complaints about them.
     
  • We cannot offer advice as to the ‘best’ place to go to receive a service or offer an opinion as which service you should choose for treatment, care or further information.
     
  • We are not an advocacy service and so cannot make a complaint to a service on your behalf. If you need help or support to formally complain about an NHS service, then you should contact Powher on 0300 456 2370 or visit their website: www.pohwer.net/Southwark

 

How to contact us

You can contact us Monday to Friday (9AM until 5PM) with your query as follows:

By telephone: 020 3848 6546

By email: info@healthwatchsouthwark.org

If we cannot resolve your query immediately or a member of staff is unable to speak with you then we will always endeavour to return your call within one working day.