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St Werburgh's Medical Practice for the Homeless, Chester
In 2000, the government recognised in it’s rough sleeping strategy, “Coming in from the Cold” that the “complex mental and physical health needs of those on the streets are not currently being met” and that “PCGs have a duty to ensure that rough sleepers have equal access to primary health care as the rest of the population”. Chester City PCG started to shape the future delivery of primary care services for the homeless and in 2004 St Werburgh’s Medical Practice for the Homeless was established.
The practice is currently staffed by 2 part time salaried GPs, an RGN nurse Specialist Practitioner, a mental health nurse Specialist Practitioner, a counsellor/HCA and 3 administrative staff. We also have a specialist Midwife who does sessions as necessary. Funded by West Cheshire Health Consortium, we are an NHS practice offering the full range of primary care services, including mental health, to the homeless. The practice offers same day appointments, drop in service and outreach services by all its health practitioners. We pride ourselves in being able to adapt to the chaotic lifestyles led by the majority of our clients. We provide healthcare for all of the violent patients as allocated by the PCT.
A recent audit was carried out to involve homeless people in their health services by enabling service users to evaluate access to, and the quality of, the services they receive. Overall satisfaction with St Werburgh’s was: Excellent = 76.5%, Good = 23.5%. The survey questionnaire was designed utilising a template provided by the QNI toolkit of resources.
We accredit the success of our practice to:
- A flexible approach to where and when our healthcare is delivered
- A multidisciplinary approach to care, involving housing, drug and alcohol teams, support agencies and any others as appropriate which enable us to provide an holistic, seamless service to our homeless clients.
- Friendly staff who understand the difficulties which homeless people face on a daily basis and are able to spend time listening and engaging.
- A commitment to involving the homeless people we serve in improving services.
We would be interested to learn of the existence of any other GP practices around the country exclusively serving the homeless population. St Werburgh’s are always looking to improve practice and would relish the opportunity to share good practice. Please get in touch.
Pauline Finlay RGN, BSc (Hons).
email: pfinlay@nhs.net
Peter Melvin RMN, BSc (Hons), QN.
email: peter.melvin@nhs.net
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