Welcome to our Impact Report – giving a quick overview of the Care Group’s performance and achievements through the 2025/26 year.
A home visiting programme for first-time young parents and their families.
Welcome to our Impact Report – giving a quick overview of the Care Group’s performance and achievements through the 2025/26 year.
patients seen at Tower Hamlets Urgent Treatment Centre
Health Visiting contacts in Tower Hamlets
Waltham Forest children measured in National Child Measurement Programme
Number of languages directly supported by our Advocacy and Interpreting team
Health Visiting contacts in Waltham Forest
Total 2025/26 income for the GP Care Group
Average staff
headcount in 2025/26
Pressure on emergency services were eased through our Same Day Primary Care Service at Cable Street health centre. This saw patients seen faster by being triaged from the Urgent Treatment Centre and Emergency Department of the Royal London Hospital treated at nearby Cable Street.
More than
patients were seen via this route during the two-month pilot, running from January to March 2026. This has now become an established part of our Integrated Urgent and Primary Care service.
The LARC Hub contraception service introduced self-referrals, helping residents to take control of their reproductive health. This new pathway helped increase access to the service, with procedures nearly doubling to 357 in 2025/26.
“Thank you for being so kind and reassuring, while remaining professional.”
LARC Hub patient.
Attendance of our Integrated Urgent and Primary Care Services increased from 102,000 in 2024/2025 to 113,000 in 2025/2026, a 10 per cent rise in demand - that's over 300 patients per day on average. Despite this increase, average wait times remained well below the four-hour national standard for urgent treatment centres at 2 hours and 50 minutes. The maintenance waiting times are due to a new triage process, improved re-direction to alternative services, and the introduction of virtual consultations through the 111 service. Patient feedback recorded 58% of patients would recommend us to their friends and family.
The UTC manages 300 attendances daily on average, with peak days exceeding 400 patients.
113,000 attendances during 2025/26
re-attendances within 7 days, many relating to patients experiencing housing issues or homelessness.
percent of attendances are from patients who live outside the borough.
Care Group delivered 1,488 face-to-face health checks between May and September 2025 to provide cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessments among adults in the community. Eight per cent of the health checks led to GP referrals, with BMI (body mass index) identified as a health risk in a third (34%) of those checked and an elevated blood pressure identified in 94% of those completing the health checks. These checks allowed for GPs to intervene or the individuals to take preventative measures to support their cardiovascular health.
face-to-face
health checks between May and September 2025
Over 9,000 patients were referred to Social Prescribers in 2025/26, with two out of five referrals related to housing and finances.
One patient, referred after an accident left them with severe mobility difficulties, said:
“I was very worried about how I would resolve these issues, such as the Blue Badge and housing matters. However, when Social Prescribing helped...I felt a great sense of relief.”
Social prescribing launched a discounted cycle scheme alongside Transport for London and the Greater London Authority in July 2025. The initiative helps residents improve their physical and mental wellbeing at an affordable price. The popular scheme was extended into 2026/27 and praised by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Our P-RESET team celebrated the involvement of residents who use substances in the design and delivery of health services at a conference at Tower Hamlets Town Hall in April 2025. The service supports General Practice to help residents who use substances access healthcare and safer alternatives. This includes alcohol, which remains a significant cause of death, with Tower Hamlets having the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths in London.
There were 139 new referrals into the Family Nurse Partnership service for young parents in 2025/26. Around a quarter of those required interpreting services with the majority of interpreting required was Bengali or Sylheti. Cheila, mum of son Kaycee, spoke about her experience of being supported by her Family Nurse. Cheila said:
“It is very comforting knowing there is someone there to ask questions if there is anything wrong with your child.”
One father on the FNP programme, Albert, took part in a BBC documentary Joe Swash: Forgotten Young Dads about the realities of young fatherhood.
Our Health Visiting team in Tower Hamlets supported almost 4,000 new birth visits during the 2025/25 year. This meant that almost 19 out of every 20 (95%) of babies were seen by our Health Visitors within 14 days of birth.
The team carries out six mandatory checks of children. Other areas of high performance were the four-month review and the 2.5-year review, where 93% of children were seen in both instances. High performance in these health visiting contacts ensures timely engagement with families and supports early identification of health, developmental and safeguarding needs.
Children
seen
Pre-birth
New birth
(14 days)
Children
seen
New birth
(30 days)
Children
seen
Six weeks
Children
seen
4 months
Children
seen
15 months
Children
seen
2.5years
Children
seen
My Health Visitor “was absolutely brilliant. She engaged wonderfully with my daughter...communicating and playing with her in a very natural and reassuring way. She was professional, warm and easy to talk to.”
Feedback from mother, February 2026
Care Group launched a suite of videos for families to learn about their child's health checks, with videos in English, Somali and Sylheti.
The School Nursing team in Waltham Forest measured 97% of children in delivering the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The programme collates data to understand obesity trends in primary school-aged children.
Such a high level of coverage supports early identification and referral of children who may benefit from weight management interventions.
One young mum got in touch with the Waltham Forest Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) team after being rehoused shortly after her 18th birthday. The mum, a care leaver, found herself without a support network or social worker. Our FNP nurse stepped in, finding a pram and Moses basket for the four-week-old baby. The family nurse stayed throughout the evening, helping to set up the bed and get settled into her new home.
This demonstrates the strength of the relationship built between our clients and Family Nurses, enabling the FNP team to support the most vulnerable in Waltham Forest.
The Waltham Forest Health Visiting team had a successful year, reaching over 90% of children for four checks, and over 86% for the other mandatory contact. These strong results meant the vast majority of children were seen when required – allowing our team to identify any needs at an early stage, in turn reducing healthcare inequalities.
“I found her being very approachable, very knowledgeable. I felt very at ease. I wasn’t worried about being judged or anything like that, yeah it was a positive experience, I thought she handled it well.”
Care Group’s Tower Hamlets Advocacy and Interpreting Service expanded its language offer from 7 to 30 languages in December 2025. This major expansion provides easier access to more languages locally, with an even wider range available from a provider outside of Tower Hamlets. There were 31,877 total patients supported throughout the year with the majority, 86%, supported over the phone. We also partnered with Convo (previously Sign Live) to deliver a high-quality British Sign Language (BSL) service on-demand for the local Deaf population.
Colleagues created a small nature island in the car park of our Island Health HQ. Nearby Mudchute Farm provided support and materials. It’s a small but important step to improving biodiversity – while improving wellbeing for staff and visitors.
We joined the Tower Hamlets Climate Alliance – allowing us to access and win a £10k carbon reduction grant.
We held a bring-and-buy sale, raising £550 for local charity, Neighbours in Poplar, and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Read MoreWe procure products and services such as catering and printing locally whenever possible. Tower Hamlets Together summer fair was fully catered, locally and sustainably, with vegan food from a local caterer.
If you would like to become one of our local suppliers, please email: thgpcg.finance@nhs.net
We continued our support for the Cycle Sisters charity – helping to boost healthier lifestyles and social connections among Muslim women. Our support enabled healthy bike rides, and training and support for volunteers.Wellbeing practitioner Farrah Idris trained eight Tower Hamlets peers in the NADA ear acupuncture protocol in 2025. This effective wellbeing practice supports good mental, physical and emotional health.
We supported the Dr B Exercise Club with 16 sessions delivered from April to September 2025, with 186 people taking part.
Sajjad Khan, [pictured Below], who has a learning disability successfully completed work experience at Aberfeldy Surgery in Poplar – and was subsequently offered a job. This success came as part of the Care Group’s involvement with Project SEARCH, a programme to help people with learning disabilities into work. At Sajjad's graduation ceremony he was also awarded 'Intern of the year'.
We also engaged 1,700 students at careers fairs and schools across Tower Hamlets and North East London. Nearly 500 students signed up to our work experience programme as a result.
students engaged at careers fairs and schools across Tower Hamlets and North East London.
Nearly
students signed up to our work experience programme.
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