The Health and Wellbeing Alliance has announced a call for bids to potential new members of the Alliance from 2021 - 24. Homeless Link will be applying to remain as a member to continue to raise awareness of health inequalites faced by people experiencing homelessness through the inclusion health agenda.

Find out more about the work of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance and review ouputs from the wider membership at the dedicated page of the NHS England/NHS Improvement website. 

Homeless Link is preparing to publish new pieces of additional work this year; these were delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The first is a project to address early onset frailty, in partnership with Friends, Families and Travellers, the Mental Health Consortium, LGB&T Partnership, CHANGE, Citizens Advice and FaithAction, and Collective Voice.  Secondly, we have been working with Friends Families and Travellers and partners Stonewall Housing, Doctors of the World, and National Ugly Mugs to develop, in collaboration with people with lived experience and stakeholders, a new Inclusion Health Audit Tool to inform Primary Care Networks.

The aim of the ‘Reducing Health Inequalities for People living with Frailty’ project is to help NHS England identify:

• Why there are inconsistences in the delivery of healthcare services to disadvantaged people experiencing frailty earlier in life
• Opportunities to reduce and overcome the barriers to accessible health care that disadvantaged people experiencing frailty earlier in life face
• How services and examples of good practice have successfully overcome the barriers to health care services that exist
• Opportunities for primary and secondary health and care services to support people and to prevent the early onset of frailty

The project includes a series of focus groups and seminars aimed at the voluntary and community sector, NHS providers, and people with lived experience.

A call for evidence took place to gather examples of best practice that have improved access to and experience of health care services for disadvantaged people living with frailty much earlier in life. 

We held a seminar event in November 2019, aimed at NHS providers, NHS England, voluntary sector organisations and people experiencing disadvantage and frailty. 

For more information on the project, contact Sue.Christoforou@homelesslink.org.uk 

Developing an Inclusion Health Audit Tool for Primary Care Networks

Inclusion health groups are those who experience the poorest health outcomes. The key inclusion health groups recognised by NHS England and Public Health England are Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, sex workers, people experiencing homelessness, and vulnerable migrants. However, a number of other groups such as people in contact with the criminal justice system, people with substance use disorders or addictions, victims of domestic violence and many more are considered under the wider remit of Inclusion Health.

In the Long Term Plan, NHS England announced that Primary Care Networks (PCNs) would have a remit which includes supporting population health and improving the outcomes of those who experience the greatest health inequalities. Our project will enhance and develop the existing HWAlliance Inclusion Health Audit Tool so that PCNs can audit their engagement with inclusion health groups. As they complete the tool, each PCN will be provided with a unique and tailored guide to help them to embed action on tackling health inequalities into their everyday activities.

For further information on the Audit Tool contact caroline.bernard@homelesslink.org.uk