As part of the Medicine in the Community Apprenticeship, during the general practice placement, all students complete a Community Action Project. Using a Quality Improvement Project framework students collaborate with the communities in which they are based to identify priority needs and design interventions to improve health and welfare.
Side 1 of the information card.
While walking to our practice in Southall each day we observed a sizable homeless population. Our investigation revealed a very low number of registered homeless patients with GPs in the area. Contact was made with Hope for Southall Street Homeless (HSSH), who have a system to help homeless individuals access GPs and addiction counselling. HSSH helped us gain an understanding about the issues the homeless face when accessing primary care, including the English–Punjabi language barrier and, especially, lack of identification.
Our intervention focused on mitigating the language barrier. We collaboratively produced an information card, coined Streetcard, with details in English and Punjabi that included StreetLink’s phone number for referral to homeless outreach teams. This was revised in multiple drafts to ensure the information was clear, accounting for different Punjabi dialects. So far, 250 cards have been distributed to Southall’s GPs and shelters, along with a printable template to improve the project’s sustainability.
Our evaluation plans include measuring outreach team referral rates in Southall, along with GP registration and shelter uptake. It is hoped that our intervention will improve primary care access in Southall. We intend to expand the project to other areas of London, responding in each instance to discrete language needs.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2019
