Health & Wellbeing Board, January 2026

The January Health & Wellbeing Board met on 21^st January.  On the agenda were a number of reports that may be of interest to local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations:

1. The Better Care Fund

The report outlined the progress that has been made on the BCF Plan for 2025-26.  This fund supports community health and social care resources to reduce the number of people who need to be admitted to hospital.

Sobus raised a query regarding the spend on community equipment which has significantly overspent so far this year.   It was explained that this was due to the previous provider going into administration at the end of August.  New providers were in place by mid September, but this very difficult situation resulted in an overspend on this budget.  It is commendable that new providers were able to be put in place in a relatively short time – it would be great to get feedback from local groups on any difficulties or positive stories on this service that you have received from local residents.

Read the report here: BCF-Q2-report-Jan-2026.pdf

2. H&F Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

A Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) is a statutory requirement which comes under Public Health.  The PCN has to be updated every three years.  The lengthy and detailed report sets out the pharmaceutical services needs of Hammersmith & Fulham.

Overall, H&F seems to be fairly well supplied with local Pharmacies, including a number with later opening hours and weekend opening.  The report included a very helpful list of H&F Pharmacies and the services they offer, as well as Pharmacies within 1 mile of H&F.

Sobus asked if there was any data on the uptake of extended pharmacy services, particularly from residents from minority communities, who may not be aware of the full range of services that local pharmacies can offer.  Whilst this data isn’t readily available, it was noted that information is available in other community languages, and is publicized widely.

Sobus would like to encourage all VCSE groups to continue to promote pharmacists as a valuable source of information and support for residents.

Read the report here: Pharmaceutical-Needs-Assessment-Jan-2026.pdf

Find details of H&F pharmacies here: HF-Pharmacies-Jan-2026.pdf

Any pharmacies within 1 mile of H&F here: Pharmacies-within-1-mile-of-HF.pdf

3. Family Hubs Annual Report

This report provided an update on the develo9pment of Family Hubs in the borough.   This model means that local families can access the same offer of high quality, integrated support, no matter where they live in the borough.

There are 3 Family Hubs in the borough, Old Oak, Tudor Rose,  and Stephen Wilshire.  Collectively, they are supporting 814 families, 1,228 children, of which 1229 are SEND children.   The hubs delivered 1,169 sessions in the last year, with an impressive range of activities for children and young people, as well as parents and families.

Sobus was pleased to see that many of these activities are delivered by local VCSE groups, including HomeStart, Turning Point, Action On Disability, Citizens’ Advice, Nourish Hub, Bubble & Squeak, Parents Active, and UPG.

It was asked if there is information on the take up of services by residents from different backgrounds and ethnicities – and whilst this isn’t yet able to be provided, the VCSE as a community can do much to ensure we are signposting residents to these centres and the services they offer.

Read the report here: Family-Hubs-report-Jan-2026.pdf

4. Healthwatch HF Annual Report, 24-25

The report outlined the work of Healthwatch Hammersmith & Fulham for the previous financial year.  It’s perhaps an uncertain time for Healthwatch, as in July 2025, the government announced its plans to close Healthwatch England and the 152 local Healthwatch, as part of the NHS 10 Year Plan. Local HW functions would be transferred into Integrated Care Boards (for public feedback on the NHS) and into local authorities (for views on adult social care).

A new Healthwatch H&F Contract was awarded in 2025, now led by an organisation called Local Voice, with Sobus and W12Together acting as delivery partners, to support the voice of local residents.  Sobus will focus on empowering the voice of residents through the VCSE groups who are known and trusted by residents, and through whom resident feedback can be sought.  W12Together will undertake some targeted work in the White City & Wormholt area, including focus groups and research to get indepth feedback from local residents.

The report outlined the range of work undertaken in 24-25, which included work around mental health, suicide prevention, maternity services and vaccination update.  Healthwatch also undertook a number of Enter and View visits at Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals, resulting in improved communication materials, wheelchair access and signage.

Read the report here:

Find out more about Healthwatch by visiting: https://www.healthwatchhf.co.uk/

Building a Strong & Connected Community: Identifying Needs in Hammersmith & Fulham, February 2025

H&F Giving commissioned research organisation Rocket Science to produce a report to better understand areas of need within our local Hammersmith and Fulham community.

The report, published in February 2025 presents a comprehensive overview of the challenges facing our community. These include income and debt, basic living needs, community cohesion, health and wellbeing, education and employment, digital inclusion and other problems including lack of access to arts & culture, violence and abuse and climate change.

The report provides valuable information on local needs in H&F, which groups can you evidence the need for their service proposals and funding applications.

You can find the report here: https://hfgiving.org.uk/needs-in-hammersmith-and-fulham-2025/

H&F borough profile

The 2024 borough profile brings together a range of demographic and population related data for Hammersmith & Fulham and presents key measures that help to define the characteristics of an area, the population it contains and the key issues it faces.

The main themes covered are:

• population
• health
• deprivation
• crime
• education and qualifications
• housing tenure
• economic activity
• local economy and businesses

The profile is also broken down by ward, so that groups can get a really detailed picture of the needs of the community in the areas where you work.  To find out more, visit: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/councillors-and-democracy/about-hammersmith-fulham-council/borough-profile/2024

Older People Health and Wellbeing

In early 2016 Sobus was commissioned by H&F GP Federation to undertake research into health and wellbeing services for people over 65.  The research has been welcomed by H&F GP Federation, providers of older peoples services and H&F Clinical Commissioning Group (H&F CCG). H&F GP Federation is incorporating the findings into its business case and H&F CCG are incorporating the findings into the Whole Systems Integrated Care works.

The full report is here:

65+ Health and Wellbeing Services Research

Social Investment

On the 22nd October 2014 Sobus and ACEVO launched the Social Investment: The Local Opportunity Report. Social investment is not a replacement for grants and contracts however it is another financial tool in the box. Social investment is repayable capital provided to people and organisations aiming to achieve social impact.

The full report is here:

Social_Investment-Local_Opportunity_Report