This meeting of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel heard a verbal update from Joy Benson, CEO of Healthwatch Greenwich, on the organisation's annual report, and also received an update from Councillor Mariam Lolavar, Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care and Borough of Sanctuary, including presentations from residents and service users. The panel noted the Work Programme Schedule 2025-26 and agreed the scope of future meetings.

Cabinet Member Update

Councillor Mariam Lolavar, Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care and Borough of Sanctuary, gave an update on her priorities, including a presentation from residents of Royal Hill, a supported living facility, and Jane Hopkins, a service user involved in the digital healthcare technology service. The update also included a presentation from Sade Adeoye on the work of Connecting Greenwich.

Royal Hill Supported Living

Two residents of Royal Hill, Tom Hawkins and Aston Delele, spoke about their experiences of living in the supported living facility. They described how living at Royal Hill had enabled them to develop independent living skills such as cooking and cleaning, and to pursue their interests, such as going to the gym and working.

Tom Hawkins said he had been living with his parents, and they've been doing all of the cooking and trying to help me out and stuff like that, but now, more likely, I've moved into a new place in Greenwich, in 1B Pentham Place. I've been there for a while, probably since in August time, so, I've been doing my own cooking, and been doing independently .

Aston Delele said that before moving to Royal Hill, he had been living at home with his mother, who had done most of the cleaning and cooking. He said that he had spent most of his time playing PlayStation and doing absolutely nothing . Since moving to Royal Hill, he had started doing voluntary work and taking part in a weight loss programme.

Casey, who works with the team that provides support at Royal Hill, spoke about the joint community focus of the facility, and how the residents work closely with organisations such as GLAB, Unity Works, and Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency.

Councillor Christine May congratulated the residents on their achievements, saying that they should be really, really proud of yourself because there's people that are living now, just ordinary people, that can't cook .

Councillor Christine St. Matthew-Daniel said that the fact that the residents were being helped to live independently was the best thing one can ask for . She added that they were not just living independently, but were also taking care of their weight, eating healthy food, and keeping their place clean.

Digital Healthcare Technology Service

Jane Hopkins, a 78-year-old blind woman who used to work as a psychiatric social worker in Greenwich, spoke about her involvement in the digital assistive technology team. She said that she had got involved in the team to look at what could be provided to help people remain at home and independent for as long as possible in reasonably good health.

Hopkins raised concerns that Greenwich was an ageist borough in comparison with Lewisham and Southwark, as it did not have an age-friendly Greenwich under the WHO age-friendly cities scheme, or a mayor that represents older people. She said that there was no training in the borough for people who are digitally terrified, and that Greenwich might be paper-free and digital by default, but that this excluded a whole section of the most needy.

Hopkins said that she felt that the digital team were very open to new ideas and the slant that a service user like her comes from. She added that she was sure they were quite bored with her keep flagging up, but what about the people who are not online?

Councillor Matthew Morrow asked Hopkins what her experience had been of whether there was a service available for people who are not going to use digital for whatever reason. Hopkins replied that it was sometimes difficult to tell project managers that they need a parallel service and hard copy as well, because one size doesn't fit all.

Councillor Christine May agreed with Hopkins that Greenwich was ageist, and asked how the equipment was hired to put into people's homes. Hopkins replied that it depends on where the person is at, and that if someone is cognitively frail, then you may be looking at different kinds of things, like doorbells to make sure, and GPS trackers.

Councillor Mariam Lolavar said that the digital health and care technology service was believed to be the only fully integrated joint initiative between a council and a local NHS service. She added that this has been a real partnership and an investment from both sides to bring something that's integrated, because at the end of the day, the end user doesn't really want to worry about those bureaucratic boundaries a lot of the time, it's about a holistic service.

Connecting Greenwich

Sade Adeoye spoke about the work that she had been doing in Connecting Greenwich. She said that she had started the organisation Keocom in 2021 as a result of the increase in suicide amongst men in Greenwich. She had presented her ideas at a community voting event and had been voted in to kick off the work with the community.

Adeoye said that public health had referred her to take on a lot of courses, including one accredited by the Royal Society of Public Health. She added that she had learned a lesson from the fact that the adverts and campaign material all had the word mental health on it, and that this must be the reason why people were not attending. For future projects, she had tried to reframe the project with a friendly, catchy name, which was instrumental to the success of future projects.

Adeoye said that she had named her project Live Life Projects, and that it had been very popular. She added that public health had connected her to various services that she was not even aware of, even though she is in Greenwich. She had also been referred to do some courses on suicide prevention strategies, which was really instrumental because some of the men that attended had traumatic experiences where she held one-to-one with them.

Adeoye said that she had also got some support from Greenwich Get Active, who had provided six-month free gym membership, which was very instrumental. The men connected more socially because in the process of doing the gym, doing exercises, they were connecting, improving their health, and losing weight.

Adeoye said that she had also connected with Oxley in Shooters Hill Kidbrook, where a lady came into the projects and carried out some mental health awareness workshops with the men. She added that the community has trust because they've lost into the system, they don't want to connect, but because of this, because organisation at grassroots is very important, because you connect on a deeper level with the participants, they are able to talk open up.

Adeoye said that she had also got people in to come and talk about post-strait cancer, and diabetics. She added that some men were speaking to her to say that they don't know what to do, they've been given medication, and that through this work what she's realised is the medical model is good, but people a lot of people get medicalized, and treating the symptoms rather than treating the root cause of the problem.

Adeoye said that she had funding at the moment, so she does men's well-being every two weeks. She added that last two weeks during one of the session a man broke down and said he wanted to end it all, he ran outside, but luckily during the session Greenwich time to talk was in attendance, a member from the Oxley, so she saw everything how he unfolded.

Councillor Christine May congratulated Adeoye, saying that she had been extremely passionate and that what she was doing was so important. Councillor Jahdia Spencer echoed these comments, saying that she could hear Adeoye's passion throughout the entire time she spoke and that she was honestly inspired by it.

Healthwatch Greenwich Verbal Update

Joy Benson, CEO of Healthwatch Greenwich, presented the organisation's annual report. She shared a quote from a local carer who said that no one was actually listening to me . Benson said that this was something that Healthwatch hears quite a lot. She added that the carer was a mother, a full-time carer of a child with learning disabilities and physical disabilities, who was dealing with daily health challenges that most people would find very hard to even imagine.

Benson said that when the carer came to Healthwatch, she wasn't looking for a miracle, she just needed someone to listen properly, without judgment. She added that Healthwatch didn't fix everything, but they made sure her voice travelled beyond that one call, beyond the complaint form, into the spaces where decisions are made.

Benson said that behind every chart, behind every insight, every policy recommendation in Healthwatch's annual report, is someone like the carer. Someone who simply wanted to be seen, to be heard, to be understood.

Benson said that Healthwatch doesn't compete with the system and the listening that's going on across the system, but hopefully contributes to completing it. She added that Healthwatch helps to fill the gaps, gathers the quiet voices, and surfaces what services don't.

Benson said that over the past year, Healthwatch had spoken directly to nearly 3,000 residents and supported over 21,000 more to find their way through a complex and often confusing system. She added that Healthwatch's focus hasn't been on volume, it's been on who they're hearing from.

Benson said that Healthwatch often hears from people at the end of their struggle, when they've tried every other route, when they've run out of energy or options. She added that this raises a question for us all: what might be possible if we built resident voice in from the beginning?

Benson noted that Healthwatch is being abolished and various functions are going to be merged into the council and the ICB[^1]. She asked the committee to think about what the future would look like to build on the work that Healthwatch has done, how the council and the work that's going on is evolving how we listen to residents, and how the lens is being widened and the trust is being deepened. She emphasised that lived experience has to be the engine and the driver, not the afterthought of system change.

Councillor Matthew Morrow thanked Benson for the report, saying that Healthwatch continues to be a strong and independent voice for patients, whatever their situation. He asked how Healthwatch relays to the people operating the system that something has gone wrong because they've come to see Healthwatch.

Benson replied that Healthwatch produces a monthly feedback report, which gives some insight into the sorts of things they've been hearing and seeing in the previous month. She added that she also attends a range of system committees and meetings, and uses those as opportunities to raise concerns and issues and barriers and challenges that residents have brought to her.

Councillor Dr Dominic Mbang thanked Benson for her presentation, saying that the panel unanimously agreed to accept the annual report.

Work Programme Schedule 2025-26

The panel noted the Work Programme Schedule 2025-26 and agreed the scope of future meetings. The next meeting will be on 9 October 2025, and will cover urgent emergency care, home first health and social care, and integrated neighbourhood teams.

Public Questions

A member of the public, Omer Aksoy, spoke about the challenges he and his wife face in caring for their 19-year-old son, who has a progressive condition with complex needs. He said that they need 24/7 care and that they are extremely tired, both physically and mentally, because they do not have respite care.

Aksoy said that his son was in education doing creative media at London South East colleges, but he couldn't progress the level three despite repeating the level two because of relating to his condition. He added that his son cannot do maths properly because he's a visual learner because he has got autism spectrum, so he cannot learn maths through conventional teaching methods.

Aksoy said that he had applied for CHC[^2] in September, but had only had a response yesterday, which was a rejection. He added that he had lost the EHCP[^3] and that he didn't have the respite care in place.

Aksoy said that he was 60 years old and that his son's condition is progressive, getting worse and worse, and that they are not getting any younger. He added that he had had a number of social workers who come and go, with lots of changes and no really good communication records.

Councillor Dr Dominic Mbang said that it was sad to hear Aksoy's encounter and what he was telling us. He added that the panel had taken note of his question and that they empathise with him. He said that the case would be dealt with as a single case, rather than speak about it in a panel like this, and that feedback would be provided to him.

Another member of the public, Francis, spoke about her concerns about the digital exclusion of senior citizens, the privatisation of the NHS, and the lack of care at home after coming out of hospital.

[1]: An Integrated Care Board (ICB) is a statutory body that brings together NHS organisations and local authorities to plan and deliver joined up health and care services to improve the lives of people in their area. [2]: Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a package of care arranged and funded solely by the NHS for people with complex health needs. [3]: An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.