Speaking up for better care: Healthwatch Barnet Annual Report 2025-26

Key achievements

• Reach: 782 people shared their experiences with us in 2025-26, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care.
• Neighbourhoods: in response to our feedback, the NHS has taken steps to make neighbourhood estates more accessible, agreed to add cancer screening and weight management referrals to their outcome indicators and committed to further developing Barnet’s Community Services Directory.
• GP guide: we created a simple, Barnet-specific guide on how to access your GP and distributed it to hundreds of residents in food banks, libraries and religious centres. 
• Exercise: we published research on residents’ experiences of exercise in Barnet. Our report has influenced the implementation of the Fit and Active Barnet Strategy. GLL Better Gyms have agreed to further develop the accessibility of their communications and we are working with GP surgeries to encourage uptake of Physical Activity Clinical Champions training.
• GP mystery shopping: we delivered our GP Mystery Shopping report. Following feedback from ourselves and others, our Integrated Care Board have taken steps to improve GP access through a new Reasonable Adjustments Process, training on accessing interpreters and onboarding of NHS App Ambassadors.
• Care homes: we published a report on mealtimes in care homes and worked successfully with several homes to improve their use of pictorial menus, culturally diverse meals and easy-grip ​cutlery.