November and December 2023

31% of the Black Country population are children and young people and our Integrated Care Board wants to make sure that every child and young person gets the right help, at the right time, by the right service, to ensure they meet their full potential.

For the November Board’s Feet on the Street we asked a local Community Interest Company (CIC), Aspire 4 U to seek the views of local children and young people to understand in their own words how they would describe their current mental health and the support available.

The top themes were stress and anxiety about college, work, and personal safety triggered by things such as social media, education, or work and being judged or bullied by other people and society. It’s clear that music, chatting with partners, family, and friends, and distracting themselves at the gym or with a hobby are great, healthy distractions from these challenges but that more is needed to support young people with their health concerns.  

Representatives from Aspire 4 U joined the meeting for this item. Board members had watched the full feedback video ahead of the Board meeting and a summary was played live in the meeting with young people talking about what is on their mind when they think about their own health, if they feel there is enough support and how we can ensure that the experiences of children, young people and their families are heard. After hearing the feedback, board members reflected on the views expressed along with the importance of building trusted channels to give advice to and hear the views of young people. The value of the community, voluntary and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in this space was acknowledged and the opportunity of the new system wide Children and Young People Board was also voiced.

A summary of their experiences and views can be viewed via YouTube and a transcript of the video can be downloaded.

Thanks to Aspire 4 U and the young people who took part in this work.

George Road Community Church offers a range of activities for the local community, including an EXTEND exercise group which offers gentle exercise for over 50s every Friday. 

Our involvement colleague attended the group and spoke to around 20 attendees about their experiences. 

The themes of the conversations included access to services, NHS 111, A&E, GP practices, referrals and waiting times.   

While it was acknowledged by the group that there are a lot of services available, they raised that they don’t know where to go or who to speak to for more information. They shared that they feel comfortable contacting NHS 111, but that the experience depends on the day and how busy the service is. 

The experiences shared on waiting times and GP practices were also very varied. Some attendees had positive experiences where they didn’t have to wait long for a referral, whereas another attendee had to chase her husband’s doctor after two years, which resulted in a rereferral. GP practices showed similar contrasts, with some saying that they struggled to get an appointment and others saying that they were able to get through to their practice on the phone at 8am.   

The group had a lot of compliments for the NHS, particularly A&E staff who they called fantastic. A female attendee said that she’d had a difficult week with news about her health, but that she had been very well supported and was grateful to the staff. 

The Low Hill Community Centre in Wolverhampton is a central hub for residents of Low Hill, The Scotlands and Bushbury. It’s run by the local community and works to keep the community up to date with local information and provide events, volunteering opportunities and help with employment and education. There’s also a range of regular activities that take place, including a drama and song club, evening bingo sessions, a luncheon club and karate classes to name a few. 

We spoke to three volunteers who work at the centre about the upcoming Wolverhampton People Panel and local health concerns. 

They raised that, locally, there are large numbers of people with diabetes. One of the volunteers, his wife and his children all have diabetes. He wishes to lose weight, so he rarely eats, which makes it hard for him to regulate his diabetes and risks long-term health implications. He would like to speak to his GP more, but he said that there was a three week wait for an appointment the last time he called. It used to be a walk-in centre and he misses being able to get an appointment on the day. He is now considering moving to a different practice to see if the service is better. 

Another volunteer shared his experience of helping one of his colleagues after they collapsed. He assumed it was to do with his diabetes, so he took him to the GP practice across the road. They said that they couldn’t see him without an appointment, so they rushed to the nearest A&E Department where he was seen within five minutes. It was a severe infection that was affecting his heart. The volunteer explained that illnesses are made more complicated from diabetes. Following this experience, he has learnt more about the condition so that he can help if someone has a hypo.  

The volunteers also shared that they all help at the community shop, which is helping people to be self-sufficient and buy food at more affordable prices. It also means that more people in the community can have regular meals, helping them to keep well. 

It was suggested during the conversation that it would be helpful to have someone who can speak about diabetes at the next People Panel at the end of November. As a result, a colleague who works at Black Country Integrated Care Board on developing the diabetes offer was in attendance to advise and help with any queries. At our March People Panel, Diabetes UK will be attending to raise awareness and educate people further.   

We spoke with the founder of THIA, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the wellbeing of children and their families in the Black Country. THIA was set up in 2021 and it works predominantly with black African and Caribbean communities, offering holistic therapy. 

The founder is passionate about developing health equity and has also been a part of the Black Breasts Matter (BBM) project, which works to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer in African and Caribbean women, understand the barriers to attending screening appointments and breakdown and address any barriers. 

They shared some of the issues that came up during the BBM project that the group would like to explore further. This included prostate cancer in black men, who admitted they never get their prostate checked and don’t plan to. Cervical cancer was also mentioned, and they highlighted how the Asian women they spoke with wouldn’t even discuss it. They had also heard that, in many Asian cultures, the eldest man in the family takes the lead on family health matters, as well as reading the post, so many women may not be aware that they were invited to a smear test.  

This was a very insightful conversation on THIA’s work, the BBM project and views that have been shared from the community. The Black Country Integrated Care Board is currently in discussions around how to proceed with the BBM project and we look forward to seeing where it goes in future. The group are forming a consortium to continue their work in tackling health inequalities locally.  

Brushstrokes is a voluntary organisation that supports people in Sandwell living in financial hardship and extreme poverty. The centre also offers services including family support, immigration advice, healthy lifestyle advice, careers and job search advice and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes. 

Our involvement colleague attended a ladies group of asylum seekers with Macmillan, which had women from Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia and Nigeria in attendance. They discussed the Black Breasts Matter project to raise awareness and encourage ladies to check their breasts and attend their screening appointments.  

A woman from Nigeria explained that doctors are very different there, as they focus on natural remedies and only treat visible illnesses. Unless a lump or sore can be seen, they do not believe that it could be cancer.  

Our involvement colleague also learnt that there is very little medical knowledge in Ethiopia, so many people do not know what cancer is. Only people who have a lot of money and live in the city will see a doctor, as those who live in villages are isolated from healthcare. They won’t usually see anyone medical until they are 15 and called up to join the army. ​ 

Those from Iraq and Iran shared similar experiences. While they did know a little about cancer, they never did any screening in their own countries. They believe that speaking about cancer invites it into the home and that people can be healed by God or other deities and herbal remedies.  

A woman who has breast cancer shared that she is on hormone therapy, had a mastectomy in Greece before completing her migration to the UK and lives on £8 per week. She was referred to Macmillan by Brushstrokes, but they refused to help her as she is an asylum seeker. The involvement team is now chasing this up with Macmillan to understand the referral rules for asylum seekers.  

Following the session and the group’s interest in helping to shape services, our involvement team have shared details of the Sandwell People Panel with the centre. They have also linked in with Black Country Voices​ and have had discussions about the possibility of holding a cancer health event for asylum seekers with Macmillan. 

We attended Stratton Street Community Centre’s parent and toddler group in Wolverhampton to speak to attendees about their experiences. The group has been running for six years following a temporary closure and they meet three times a week. It provides a safe space for children to play and have a snack while parents have an opportunity to come together and talk, creating a very close-knit community. We spoke to eight attendees, with the themes of the conversations focussing on urgent and emergency care, waiting times, Accident and Emergency triage and sexual health. 

A mum of two, whose three-year-old son was born with an unformed leg, shared their experience of having his leg amputated and a prosthetic leg fitted. She praised Birmingham Children’s Hospital but said that not having a car made attending the appointments difficult and expensive. She also added that she wished there was a district nurse who could have helped with parts of their experience.  

Another mum of two in attendance works full-time as an end-of-life carer. She shared her experience of working in the profession, touching on how difficult working in care can be, wages and how carers and senior staff feel unvalued, exhausted and demotivated. She said the hardest part of her job is having to prepare her patients’ bodies after they pass away. She finds this traumatising and would like to see mental health support provided to nurses and carers following a death.​   

Attendees also had a discussion around sexual health, sharing that they would be interested in doing Public Health's public consultation. They also spoke about the rise in sexually transmitted infections locally and the excuses they have heard from men regarding not using contraception.​ The insights from this discussion have been passed over to Public Health and the group were involved in the public consultation.