London's recovery starts with you

I would like to see more focus on bringing back social activities in order to combat loneliness brought on by COVID. Let's get some alternatives to illegal races and start thinking about how pubs and bars can operate once outside seating is no longer an option. We need to bring people together not to continue keeping everyone apart.

Public health interventions have been trying for years to tackle these issues, but unless there is a change in behaviour and mindset of people, these interventions will not meet their aims. It’s a cycle of one influencing the other, and back. We all know that health, the environment, politics, education and economics cannot and do not exist in isolation to each other, so why do most policies treat them like they do. 

Parents have the biggest responsibility to educate and inculcate the values of healthy eating, exercise, knowledge about considerate consumption and waste etc to their kids. They cannot do this if all they can afford is junk food and all they can buy in supermarkets is processed food in so much packaging. They cannot do this if nature is almost invisible and unaccessible to most families. They cannot do this if they have to work twice as hard to make ends meet and they don’t have any energy left to think about these things. Kids are our future. We all know that our curriculum serves the very few, focuses on achievement and getting ahead and earning lots of money. If kids are told this every single day, why and how would they grow up to be considerate and conscious citizens, how will they understand the intricate nature of how everything in our environment is related. How will they then treat their bodies with respect too. Policies targeting obesity will never succeed if there are not political powers backing the necessary steps needed. 

An example I would use is micro plastics; the average person consumes the equivalent of one credit card per week through our food. What benefit can we even imagine that would do to our bodies. So our body responds in the way of various problems and diseases either now in the near future. This impacts a family greatly and puts a strain on the health system. Who educates people about it? Who does something?

Hi everyone,

I am delighted to read all this comments, the extroardinaire relationships in the town, is a real life style, quiet , friendly, every body is free to go vote, to register for the council, free speech and actions.I hope participated to meetings more often for 2021, because find a place where people listens, and not judge,  affects our strong and sensitive well-being.Thanks you very much for this website.

This government and most governments do not care for its people!!! They allow poisons to be sold for profit in food chains, pharmaceutical companies to profit out of long term medicines instead of giving the cure we all know they have for illnesses, they promote  materialism and waste then dump the waste in poorer countries ruining our environment and seas, make cuts in employment and cuts in wages, inflate everyday costs and taxes take away funding but fun wars.  No one believes governments are here for the people!!!!!!! They are the real evil  

Why are the disabled missing form all this. Those with limited activity due to injury, sickness or birth issues are ignored from this. Those with sicknesses are the most vulnerable, those with mental health issues can find the new reality with isolating adn distancing confusing and threatening and those with limited mobility already have issues with central London as few tube stations allow Step free access. We are excluded from the bicycling options by our limitations and the new cycle paths make access to buses and taxes even more difficult. We hear so much about working for diversity in ethnic communities, about looking after the young and making provision for the fit and healthy but I see nothing to help the disabled except the cycle paths which will make it worse if one is trying to find work in London or trying to use the shops or other facilities London has to offer. Why is London ignoring the disabled, we need your help now more than ever.

This copy is a result of Positive Ageing in London's conference feedback:

Our aims

Ensure older people have access to health and care and have support and information on maintaining their health and wellbeing

Challenges

Months of ‘shielding’ and subsequent isolation and inactivity may have had unintended consequences for physical and mental health. Usage of the health service has declined during the crisis by all age groups with a backlog of treatments which will need to be cleared. There has been a move to telephone and online consultations, but it is not certain how well these serve older patients. With the reduction in public transport, accessing medical treatment poses a further challenge, particularly if these take place far from home as may be the case in the re-organised NHS in London. There is also concern over the ease of use, updating and accessibility of related websites, such as those of GP surgeries and practices

How to get there

Restore public confidence that the NHS is capable of treating non-Covid cases safely

Ensure that necessary levels of rehabilitation services are in place to meet the needs of people of all ages

Review services and support for BAME older people

Develop and extend local initiatives to promote physical activity for older people

Research patient experience of remote consultations to inform professional practice

Work with older people and their representatives in any new strategy for the NHS in London

Ensure hospital transportation is adequate to meet the increase in demand

Support provided and information sent to all health and age-related online information and websites to make them accessible and understandable to older people

Older Londoners have been affected by the Pandemic . Immediate actions are required :

1. Restore public confidence that the NHS is capable of treating non-Covid cases safely and also to clear backlogs in treatment 

2. Ensure that necessary levels of rehabilitation services are in place to meet the needs of people of all ages - the "Long Covid" cases in particular 

3. Review services and support for BAME older people

4. Develop and extend local initiatives to promote physical activity for older people

5. Research patient experience of remote consultations to inform professional practice

6. Work with older people and their representatives in any new strategy for the NHS in London

7. Ensure hospital transportation is adequate to meet the increase in demand

8. Support  age-related online information and websites to make them accessible and understandable to older people and hard copy information to also be made available 

There should be more mental health service availability for a start.  Patients should be able to see their GP without having to go through an automated process (eg doctorlink) to make an appointment.  GP's should also give their patients time to be seen and not to be rushed.  Also GP's should have weekend surgeries for people who work and cannot attend during work hours as illness doesn't just occur from Monday to Friday.  There should also be more medical voices regarding the environment ie perhaps if doctors asked for more trees to be planted, or more green spaces on the doorstep(especially in cities), to counteract the pollution to help their patients have cleaner air, which could culminate in less mental and physical illnesses. 

I also think that tfl are not doing enough (ie challenging passengers on buses especially) regarding the wearing of masks.  A person not wearing a mask should not be allowed on a bus to endanger other passengers.

I would like to see a reduction in waiting times for IAPT support. I would also like it to be made easier to access GP appointments in a timely manner. This is difficult if you physically have to go into work given that the GPs now tend to triage appointments over the phone before making physical appointments. However as as teacher I can not be on my phone and therefore it can take a week to find time to make a phone call and then actually another week or so for an appointment. Then if you  need a treatment it is a further week from there. This access delay  makes it difficult to get medical help if you do not work from home. The NHS appointment referral online equally is comberosme and not appropriate and has some sequencing problems with the questions it asks. Again this referral questionnaire only triggers a phone call which you can not answer in class. Collectively this makes it very hard to access medical help for key workers who physically go to work.

I want to see more opportunity to engage with arts and culture on my doorstep, because that has an incredibly positive impact on my health and well-being.   The idea of the 15-minute city is a great one, but for that to nourish my soul as well as my body, I need the arts as part of that.  How about finding a way to mount a concert on my Whitechapel estate?  Or having excellent design built into all developments, so there are aesthetically pleasing things all around us?  Or pop-up exhibtiions of photography on street furniture?  Or ways to trigger recordings about the history of our streets when we walk past them, combining daily exercise wtih knowledge? 

Could we have segregated areas for smoking and non-smoking in outdoor areas (starting with eating areas, and then parks). 
We know smoking and passive smoking are risks for having worse health outcomes - not just for covid-19, but general health, esp when combined with London's air pollution.

...but rules need to be enforced - with decent fines if broken (perhaps warnings for a brief time period first). 

People may have a right to smoke, but the rest of us non-smokers have a right to breathe clean air - esp those of us with asthma.

Australia is ahead of the game with their smoking policies. Let's take a leaf out of their books.

For starters we need to STOP this virus from spreading.  That means the public need to listen and do what they have been asked to do.  WEAR MASKS where it is required by LAW.  There are still very large numbers of people NOT doing this on public transport, supermarkets, shops, etc. and are not being enforced by the people in charge.  This is leaving those people who are following the law very very angry.  Every day I hear that bus drivers allowing passengers on buses without a face covering.  They should be told by our mayor and those in charge of public transport that the driver must enforce it instead of passengers getting into fights amongst themselves.  It is unacceptable that these rules  apply for some and not for others. There is a solution....offer free masks otherwise they can't go on public transport and they can't enter the shops.  If you haven't got a mask at least cover your face with a jersey or a scarf and show you are trying.   Why is this so difficult.  This is for ALL OUR OWN GOOD !

I think healthier food options should be a really important part of this mission. I go to a sixth form college with a small canteen that is quite expensive. In secondary school, a full hot meal cost me £2.20, and this is still the amount I get daily, but it isn't really enough to buy lunch. Most people in my college just eat chips, chocolate and snacks because it isn't sustainable to buy a healthy meal everyday. I think this will be even more important after lockdown, as people have been at home for a long time, and probably been developed eating patterns that are more unhealthy. If there was a way that the Mayor of London could promote healthier eating by making it more affordable in schools/colleges or even businesses, I think this would really help young people's health.

Many young people need to be assessed and receive the right support but the NHS system is very slow, the waiting time is from 4 to 12 months. We require an efficient system that really satisfies the needs of young people. I wonder how this problem is going to be solved. They need to receive this support before they are kicked out of schools. Schools have the power to remove students from schools very easily without trying anything before , they don't realise the psychological damage done to these young people. The referral units should be annexed to schools so that students can continue attending lessons and at the same time they receive specialised counselling and workshops. By excluding them from society at early age and leaving them with inadequate support contributes to make their behaviour worst. They need real solutions to avoid it. Unfortunately, the government has publicly treated young people unfairly they don't value young people. There is inequality in education. Quality in education needs to be improved and standardised not the grades. Stop stereotyping pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and offer quality in teaching and schools.Train teachers to promote a growth mindset in every child no matter their background.  It is unacceptable that young people spend 5 years in secondary education and end up without qualifications. What is going on? Schools are failing. Value people equally. Provide access to quality education for everyone not just for a few.

Look at the proposals being put forward on the Talk London 15-minute City discussion, for starters. 

Keep people working at home, convert surplus central offices to good quality genuinely affordable and social rent housing. Shift much economic activity out to where those workers live, and redesign neighbourhoods and high streets - green eco-neighbourhoods that offer shopping, work hubs with workshops and other facilities, entertainment and leisure activities. Shift the residential provision away from noisy venues, and redesign green transport & communications to facilitate more movement between neighbourhoods. For some leisure activity centres, such as museums and larger cinemas, ensure that they are distributed around London, so that all localities have access to them easily. Take the pressure off the centre of London, thus keeping the air and noise pollution down. This reduces people's vulnerability to Covid-19 in various ways. More housing for ordinary people means less stress, so their immune systems benefit.