Congratulations to Feltham and Bedfont Primary Care Network (PCN), who were announced the winner of the Health and Wellbeing Advocate category at last week’s National BAME Health and Care Awards.
The awards recognise and celebrate the work of Black and Minority Ethnic staff and networks in health and social care.
The Healthy Hounslow Outreach team, pictured above, accepted the award on behalf of the PCN.
The award recognised the work done by the PCN to deliver roving clinics for Covid vaccinations, followed by blood pressure and BMI checks. This was done in collaboration with London Borough of Hounslow Public Health and the Health Outreach Team. The roving clinics paved the way for what is now the Healthy Hounslow Community NHS Health Check service, which went live in April 2023.
Our Healthy Hounslow team operate out of a converted ambulance and travel to different locations, events and communities across Hounslow. They engage residents where they are - on the high street, in community centres, in places of work or places of worship.
The team offers eligible Hounslow residents free NHS Health Checks, blood pressure checks, health and wellbeing coaching, personalised information and guidance on healthy lifestyles, and referrals to other service including Healthy Hounslow lifestyle interventions. The proactive service uses public health data, local intelligence and community connections to identify those who are most at risk, those who will benefit the most and those who may be least likely to engage with existing health services. By focussing on early detection and intervention in the community, the service is designed to help prevent heart disease, kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and dementia, improve the health and wellbeing of Hounslow residents, and reduce inequalities in health.
The award feedback was: “In an extremely impressive group, the judges were impressed by the teamwork and widespread evidence of impact as well as the innovative nature of the work and how it overcame the barriers.”
Jessica Bennett, Senior PCN Development Manager, said: “It is a joy to work with the team that carried out the roving clinics, which has since expanded to support the delivery of the Healthy Hounslow Health Check service. We are very proud to be recognised for our hard work and energized as we continue to support the health and wellbeing of hard to reach and BAME communities across Hounslow.”
Dr Mark Remedios, PCN Clinical Director, said: “PCN staff have worked extremely hard over the last 2 years to tackle the health inequalities that exist within Feltham, Bedfont and Hanworth. The roving clinics allowed the PCN to expand our reach to include hard to reach communities across Hounslow. The PCN was then able to secure the Healthy Hounslow contract focussed on CVD prevention. With this contract, we hope to further develop this innovative model of roving health care to aggressively tackle the health inequalities present in our communities.”