Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, & Wellbeing, Cllr Lucia das Neves, is a fierce advocate for health, wellbeing and tackling health inequality in Haringey, as well as being passionate about spending time talking to residents in the community to hear what they want to improve and change.
We look back at some of our achievements in this area over the last year and look forward to what is in store for the next 12 months.
Highlights of the last twelve months:
- In January 2023, Haringey showed decisive leadership in tackling gambling harms at a major summit in the borough. The summit showcased the partnership work of the council, NHS and voluntary sector to tackle gambling harms in the borough. It brought together public health experts, researchers, policy makers and others to explore the scale of the issue, as well as education, prevention and treatment. Attendees at Alexandra Palace and online also heard from Tony Kelly, founder of charity Red Card and a lived experience expert who is delivering workshops in secondary schools across Haringey. We look forward to continuing this ground-breaking and important work.
- In March 2023, we commemorated one year since the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme in Haringey. In a year, we were so proud to see households across the borough welcome over 250 Ukrainians. The support given to these individuals came from across all council services, and we look forward to continuing to support our newest residents. Our Welcome Strategy and Welcome Advisory Board have gone from strength to strength, making us truly a borough of welcome, where those fleeing persecution and war are supported, included and valued.
- During the last year, we have started to see brand new Social Work Officers (SWOs) take up roles at the Council. These all-important in-house team members help support vulnerable adults in Haringey. They assist social workers in managing more complex cases and work closely with other local partner organisations to help them better support residents. They are part of our efforts to grow our own highly skilled, stable, creative and motivated workforce for the future.
Looking forward to the next twelve months:
- Haringey is committed to addressing health inequalities and will continue to make early intervention and prevention in health and social care a priority. Work to build on and mainstream initiatives like Connected Communities across the council has started, alongside our programme to bring services closer to residents in locality hubs, starting in Northumberland Park. We know that early intervention and prevention is the best way to make sure all our residents live well and age well and get the right services at the right time to help them make the most of life.
- We will continue to work with partners and the NHS to ensure that anyone who wants and needs support for their mental health can get it. We know that one in four of us will experience some form of mental illness during our lives. Mental health and improving community mental health services is a key focus for our integrated care borough partnership and we will continue to make the case for adequate funding for these services. As the founder member of London’s Great Mental Health Day, we will continue to build awareness of the services and activities available all year round.
- Haringey has a zero-tolerance approach to violence against women and girls. That’s why we’re working hard alongside our commissioned services to make sure that anyone who’s experiencing violence can get tailored help and support. By April 2024, we will have re-commissioned our VAWG services to be even more aligned to our residents’ needs, taking into account feedback from survivors. We are committed to supporting survivors, holding perpetrators to account, and working with our local communities to ensure all Haringey residents can live a life free from violence, abuse and hate.
