Social prescribing rolled out across South Notts – Nottingham West focus

“It’s all about empowering a patient and moving away from the idea that the GP will have a solution for every problem. We support people to make their own choices and their own decisions.”

Doctors report a lot of people visiting them feeling isolated or lonely, or stressed out by work, money and housing problems. Sometimes it’s the stress of managing different long-term conditions.

But a doctor isn’t the only person who can help you get better. There are other things you can do to improve your health and wellbeing, and sometimes you just need a bit of help to work out what they are.

That’s where social prescribing comes in.

Social prescribing can help improve your health and wellbeing by connecting you to activities in the community. And it really works, so that’s why we’ve introduced social prescribing teams across South Nottinghamshire.

Social prescribing is a referral only service and if you are referred, a Social Prescribing Link Worker can help you take control of your health and make changes. They can connect you to community groups and activities, as well as refer you to statutory services for practical advice.

They might introduce you to a community group, a new activity or a local club, or they might help you access legal advice or debt counselling. They might just help you find information and guidance by using a bit of inside knowledge on your situation or what local resources there are.

Nottingham West Social Prescribing Link Worker Carrie explains: “We work with patients that are referred by their GP and help them reach their goals and overcome any barriers.

“It’s all about empowering a patient and moving away from the idea that the GP will have a solution for every problem. We support people to make their own choices and their own decisions.

“It’s about making connections, but it is very much led by the patient to find things they want to do and determine what they want to achieve. That could be making friendships and connections in the community, it could be learning a new skill, it could be volunteering.

“There are many different options, but because the choice is made by the patient themselves rather than a GP, they are much more likely to achieve those goals and improve their general health and well-being.”

The Nottingham West team, which is managed by Primary Integrated Community Services,   are already making a difference to patients’ lives across the patch and will be expanding their team this Spring.

Pictured above: Carrie Lambert-Smith (left) and Lindsay Campbell (right)

Primary Care Psychological Medicine service rolled out across South Nottinghamshire

A psychological treatment service piloted in Rushcliffe has now been rolled out across South Nottinghamshire, offering hope to more people with high levels of unexplained or persistent physical symptoms of illness.

Primary Care Psychological Medicine (PCPM) is an innovative service providing psychiatric care for patients with persistent physical symptoms. There’s a close relationship between physical and mental health related matters, and the intention of the PCPM service is to help link the two and maximise health in both areas.

Persistent physical symptoms can be painful, life-limiting and distressing, and can mean multiple GP appointments, outpatient visits and even going to an emergency department. But the aim is to improve patients’ symptoms and increase patients’ functioning. The service see people either in a GP surgery or at their home.

The service provides active management of the patient in the community, delivering access to psychiatry support and resulting in a better experience and outcomes for patients. It’s accessed via referral from a GP or other healthcare professional, and after the patient is referred, the team will contact them to arrange an appointment for assessment.

The team is made up of health professionals who specialise in supporting people with complex health problems, including diabetes, heart or lung disease. They can also support people with symptoms such as pain, tiredness and dizziness, which have not responded to previous interventions.

The service was piloted in Rushcliffe after Vanguard funding from NHS England to test ‘new models of care’, and an evaluation report by the Mental Health Economics Collaborative stated: ‘New services often take many years to demonstrate a saving, yet in its first phase PCPM was able to evidence reductions in health care use of  £153,566 (greater than the staffing costs of the programme) and, very tentatively, show annualised, post-discharge savings of  £524 per person’.

You can read the full report (‘A New Approach to Complex Care’)  here.

Dr Chris Schofield, Consultant Liasion Psychiatrist at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, says: “It’s brilliant that the service has now been rolled out across South Nottinghamshire. The whole team approach in integrating mental and physical health and primary and secondary services is effective and this service has delivered impressive results, including improved patient outcomes and reduced primary and secondary care attendance. It perfectly fits the new ways of working emerging from the Primary Care Networks.

“More than anything working with the patients and helping them get better is a real privilege and I’m pleased that the benefits can now extend to more local patients.”

Fiona Callaghan, South Nottinghamshire Locality Director, says: “This is an innovative service that brings together the physical and mental health care of patients with ongoing, chronic physical health symptoms. It has delivered proven results in Rushcliffe, so we’re really excited to see how the service delivers at scale.

“In line with ICS aspirations, it’s also a great example of integrated care, bringing together primary, hospital and community care, helping us deliver a more holistic approach to patient care.”

Support smokefree sidelines at your local football club

This initiative gives parents the chance to help their child to not start smoking, by making their club ground a healthier place to enjoy playing and watching football.

Smokers who cheer on family and friends playing football are being encouraged to leave cigarettes and vape pens at home to create Smokefree Sidelines across Rushcliffe.

Rushcliffe Borough Council, Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group and Nottinghamshire FA are encouraging more spectators to act as positive role models and not smoke when attending games or training involving both children or adults participating in the sport.

It’s part of the authority’s drive to ensure sports clubs are healthy and inclusive places, where the wellbeing of all, but particularly children and young people, is a priority.

Vaping is included in the initiative to help guard against younger age groups being exposed to the activity which still carries a health risk.

The campaign is empowering parents and club officials to report smoking or vaping on the sidelines or in the view of children to a nominated club official who can highlight the campaign and what it is trying to achieve.

Prominent local clubs including West Bridgford Colts, Keyworth United, Edwalton Cavaliers, Cotgrave Colts, East Leake Bantams and Radcliffe Olympic have pledged their support to the scheme installing banners at their respective grounds and players are now wearing campaign bibs during training to spread the message.

Rushcliffe GP Jeremy Griffiths said: “Children copy what they see and if their Mum or Dad smokes they are three times more likely to start smoking with 2/3 of adult smokers starting before age 18.

“This initiative gives parents the chance to help their child to not start smoking, by making their club ground a healthier place to enjoy playing and watching football.

“At the same time, it encourages smoking parents or carers to seek out help to join the rising number of quitters across Notts who by stopping improve their chances of avoiding cancer, heart and lung disease. And that is a win for everyone!”

Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Deputy Leader Cllr Debbie Mason said: “It’s heartening to see so many clubs commit to this project that will provide even further protection from smoking to young people and all footballers when they take to the field.

“We know the vast majority of family members and spectators who watch local sport are always good healthy role models, but this effort is helping even more play their part in being responsible spectators.”

Football Development Manager at Nottinghamshire FA, Marc Birkett said: “Nottinghamshire FA are proud to be working with partners to promote healthy lifestyles and make a positive impact on the grassroots football environment.

“It will be great to see this project develop as more clubs become involved and we hope this programme can roll out across the county in the future.”

There is a wide range of free support that can be accessed to help quit smoking.

The most effective way to quit for good is to use the local stop smoking service, which is normally free of charge. Visit the NHS website or call Smokefree Life Nottinghamshire on 0115 772 2515.