Trust shares expertise and experience in supporting homeless people

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust has shared its experience and expertise in care for the homeless during a visit by the Chief Executive of the Queen’s Institute for Community Nursing (QICN) Stephanie Lawrence (pictured back row right) and Deputy Chief Public Health Nurse Jamie Waterall (centre left) to the Horton Park Medical Centre.

The QICN recently launched their Faculty of Homelessness and Inclusion Health Nursing and wanted to visit an experienced northern team to look at how they provide health care for the homeless. The Care Trust’s Homeless and New Arrivals team has been established for 20 years so was well placed to share information about all aspects of homelessness and inclusion.

The team gave presentations about their person-centred approach to care and how vulnerable clients are supported in the community, as well as discussing how the service is being developed. Health inequalities were also discussed with a presentation from the Trust’s award-winning, multi-disciplinary Proactive Care team that works in central Bradford and Keighley.

The visit was a huge success, with both teams receiving great feedback and thanks for their hard work and presentations.

Jamie Waterall said: “Thank you to the brilliant team at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust for such a valuable visit. It was inspiring to hear directly from the Homelessness and New Arrivals Team and the Proactive Care Team about how they are redesigning services around the needs of people, families and communities.

“What stood out was their unwavering focus on innovation, trauma-informed practice and holistic, person and family-centred care – helping ensure that vulnerable and underserved populations receive the support they need. This is what thoughtful service design looks like: listening, adapting and working proactively to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes.”

Acting Chief Executive Philippa Hubbard said: “Our Homeless and New Arrivals team work every day with some of the most vulnerable people. Over the last two decades they have developed expertise in many issues related to homelessness, so were able to provide important insight for our visitors. It’s a tribute to their experience and expertise that our Care Trust was chosen to showcase such important work on addressing health inequalities.”