Heartbeat: May 2019

Working against the odds to improve
experience of homeless patients
CORPORATE AND GENERAL
NEWS
There has been a huge increase in
homelessness over the past few
years and this continues to rise
with shocking figures revealing that
one in 73 people are now homeless
in Birmingham. This rise has been
linked to spiralling rents, welfare
cuts and a lack of social housing.
Following an annual review in 2018,
the charity ‘Shelter’ revealed that an
astonishing 15,538 were recorded as
‘homeless’ in Birmingham.
Despite these horrific statistics, our
homeless patient pathway (HPP)
team continues to work against the
odds improving the experience of our
homeless patients by providing much
needed interventions such as securing
accommodation, advice and signposting,
food, clothing and toiletries.
Helen Taylor, Lead Nurse for HPP plays
a fundamental role in ensuring that
we continue to support our homeless
patients.
She said: “The majority if not all of our
homeless patients face rates of physical
ill health several times higher than the
general population, often combined by
mental ill health and substance misuse.
In addition to this, depression is also
Our homeless patient pathway team work
to reduce homelessness across Sandwell and
Birmingham. L–R: Alycia Deacon, Housing
Navigator; Helen Taylor, Lead Nurse and Louise
Edwards, Housing Navigator
extremely common, with homeless people
being nine times more likely to take their own
life than the general population. With this
mind, it’s vital we continue to support this
client group as they are some of the most
vulnerable in our community.”
HPP aims to reduce homelessness across
Sandwell and Birmingham by either securing
suitable accommodation on discharge or
signposting to the relevant agencies for
additional support. They assist our homeless
patients by helping them to access services to
manage their situations of crisis.
Helen believes we are achieving this but we
must continue to maintain the high standards
so the service can maintain its success.
Colleagues can assist with this by identifying
homeless patients and referring to the team
as soon as possible so they have adequate
time to respond and achieve a safer discharge.
A perfect example of this was a young
vulnerable patient who was helped by the
team and has now completely turned his
life around.
Helen said: “The patient was made
homeless due to family conflict and
was only 19 years old at the time. The
patient was suicidal due to debt issues
and homelessness and had attempted to
take his own life on multiple occasions.
After being admitted into City Hospital he
was immediately referred to the homeless
team. The support of HPP ensured stable
supported accommodation as well as
external agency referrals to address his
mental health and financial difficulties.
They also offered community follow up, GP
registration, food and clothing. Following
on from the interventions from HPP the
patient is still sustaining a tenancy, has
returned to full time employment and
enjoying a healthier lifestyle by attending
his local gym three times a week.”
If anyone would like to help and support
this cause please contact the homeless team
direct using the details below:
• Helen Taylor – Lead Nurse on 07580
677913, helen.taylor54@nhs.net
• Louise Edwards – Housing Navigator on
07580 677884, louise.edwards@nhs.net
• Alycia Deacon – Housing Navigator on
07989 148281, alycia.deacon@nhs.net
Five weeks before the ban
2019
5
JULY
As the weeks fly by, we are now
looking at only five weeks to go,
before our Trust goes smokefree on
5 July, meaning that there will be no
smoking allowed anywhere on our
sites, including in cars parked in staff
carparks.
Respiratory Consultant, Dr Ziaudeen Ansari
is urging smokers to quit
If you’ve used or passed by any of our
designated smoking shelters at Rowley,
City or Sandwell recently, you might have
noticed some new posters reminding smokers
of the forthcoming ban, and signposting
them to services to help them quit. Whilst
smoking will be banned outright, you will
still be allowed to vape in a limited number
of designated shelters outside on our sites
and under cover which will be clearly signed.
The vaping shelters have been chosen for
their location which is monitored by CCTV,
and anyone caught smoking in the vaping
shelters, or anywhere on our sites following
the ban may receive a £50 penalty fine.
Respiratory Consultant, Dr Ziaudeen Ansari
said: “It is very frustrating to see patients in
our respiratory clinics who present with COPD
and lung cancer due to smoking, as they have
already damaged their lungs due to smoking,
without realising the consequences of their
behaviour. However stopping smoking even
after diagnosis will help their breathing, so I
would urge anyone who smokes to stop in
order to improve their lung health.”
As we countdown to the ban, you will see
more communications talking about the
benefits of going smokefree, and if you’ve
got a story to tell or would like to actively
support the campaign please contact
vanya.rogers@nhs.net. We are seeking
champions who would like to get involved
in our publicity campaign to promote
healthy smokefree messages. We’re
looking for both colleagues who will deliver
messages in English and those who are
fluent in a language other than English,
who would be happy to be filmed delivering
simple messages to our communities
about our smokefree campaign. We’re also
looking for staff members with children who
could deliver smokefree messages for an
external audience. If you have a child aged
five or older please get in touch with
anuji.evans@nhs.net.
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