Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Board received a report of the Executive Director of Community and Children’s Services, concerning an introduction to the Homelessness Health Workplan. Following an introduction to the report, questions and comments were raised as follows:

The Board heard that there was no current capacity to change the day that the mobile primary care clinic was deployed, but a clinical outreach service was run on Wednesday mornings.

It was asked whether other health services, such as dentistry and podiatry, would be offered at the mobile clinic. On dentistry, the response was that dental referrals were offered, however generally there were difficulties accessing that health service within the City. The Board also later heard that oral hygiene packs were provided in the mobile clinic. Hygiene packs were also provided on the outreach service.

On podiatry, the Board heard that there was a priority within the workplan for access to extended services such as podiatry, but the mobile clinic focused on a ‘wrap-around’ service. At the Greenhouse Surgery, a podiatrist was attended monthly, but that space had to be shared with other services and was further away in distance from the City. It was later commented that there was a podiatry clinic at the Artesian health centre which could link to services within the City.

It was raised that weight was a key health concern among homelessness. The Board heard that patients were assessed and prescribed as necessary and would direct to other pathways such as access to food for those with weight concerns.

The Board raised its concerns that the Homeless Health Coordinator role was only funded until 2025 by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI). The response was that continued funding was a priority, and DLUHC had not provided great assurance of its continuation. For the workplan to continue, it needed to be considered within the wider health modelling. The Board encouraged the gathering of data for an evidence base to DLUHC for the funding to continue. It was questioned whether the data should be reported quarterly rather than bi-annually to the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Sub-Committee, to which the response was that this could be considered but was likely reported bi-annually due to capacity restrictions.

Finally, following queries on the mental health service provision, the Board heard that there was a low-threshold service that could assist with low-level cases. There was also a psychotherapy service. There was a need to build engagement and trust with patients for continued use of the mental health service.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.