Senior Medical Directors from NHS England visit the HealthBus Team

On 21 April 2023, the HealthBus team had the privilege of welcoming Professor Sir Stephen Powis (National Medical Director of NHS England), Dr Michael Marsh (Southwest Medical Director & Chief Clinical Information Officer of NHS England) and Dr Paul Johnson (Chief Medical Officer of NHS Dorset) to the HealthBus offices based at Bournemouth Foodbank in Boscombe. This meeting with senior NHS leaders allowed them to discover the journey of the charity and its innovative model of delivering essential healthcare via the use of the bespoke mobile clinic. Both team members and Trustees from the Trust we able to share the achievements, successes and challenges of advocating and supporting the most marginalised in our community. After a formal briefing from Dr Maggie Kirk, the NHS Senior Leaders had the opportunity to speak personally with serval HealthBus patients about their experience, journey and encounter with the Trust. This engagement has endorsed the importance of the NHS collaborating with voluntary sector organisations in order to bring improved health, well-being and connectivity within communities.

Research undertaken by The Museum of Homelessness (MOH) in the UK has recently uncovered that a person died while homeless every 6.5 hours in the UK last year. More than 4,000 people have died while homeless across the UK since 2019, according to a grassroots count that showed a surge in deaths in England and Wales last year. The MOH found that the Dying Homeless count found 1,313 people died while rough sleeping or in emergency or insecure housing across the UK, representing a two per cent rise on the 1,286 deaths recorded in 2021.

The HealthBus Trust seeks to remove the health inequalities faced by those who are experiencing homelessness and directly tackle the overwhelming needs in order to prevent deaths.

“Its our values and determination that drives us to be a voice for the most vulnerable in our town. We can not stress enough the importance of collaboration and cooperation with a wide range of providers and organisations to ensure that those that are experiencing homelessness get the essential care they need. We are piorneering a new and exciting model which is working, and its great to share it with our NHS senior leaders.” – Dr Gareth Sherwood, HealthBus Trustee Chairman