The HealthBus
We are very proud to be supporting The HealthBus with their incredible work providing early intervention primary care amongst Bournemouth’s homeless population, saving enormous amount of money in acute and secondary care further upstream.
The HealthBus was launched in Dec 2016 by Dr Maggie Kirk. It was a response to the need for accesible and appropriate healthcare for people sleeping rough in Bournemouth. These vulnerable individuals struggle to access traditional healthcare and even the local homeless hostel surgery has proven to be a stretch too far for the majority. Asa result, health problems go unchecked until it is too late or emergencies develop, often at great cost to the individual and health services.
Alongside AWS, the PatientSource solution underpins the charity’s digital health system and allows their services to be conducted remotely with ease. This means that The HealthBus can go directly to the end users, safe in the knowledge that access to any patient records digital care is being provided.
“PatientSource has provided us with a means to see patients safely outside the NHS. I have valued the creative input and experience of their friendly team”.
Dr Maggie Kirk
Supporting our most vulnerable citizens
The HealthBus Trust is a charity that provides accessible and appropriate healthcare to people experiencing homelessness in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas. The Trust operates a mobile, GP-led service in close relationship with a multidisciplinary team and other providers of homeless services.
VISION: To reduce health inequalities and develop world class expertise
in homeless health through multidisciplinary partnership working.
MISSION: We provide accessible, high quality, patient-centred healthcare for people experiencing homelessness.
VALUES: Every person has an equal right to effective and evidence-based healthcare. We deliver this in a safe and non-judgemental environment.
Did you know?
The Homeless attend A&E 6 times more than average and when admitted stay three times longer.
Preventing homelessness is estimated to reduce public expenditure by £10k per person per year.
The annual cost of unscheduled care for homeless people are 8 times that of the housed population.
People who are homeless are 9 times more likely to take their own lives.
Homeless life expectancy is up to 40 years less that that of the Dorset housed population, equating to 47 years for men and 43 years for women.
91% of homeless people suffer from 2 or more chronic conditions.
94% of those that are homeless suffer from depression/anxiety - 52% of whom said they had used drugs, alcohol or ethanol to cope.
People who are homeless are 40 x less likely to be registered with a GP.
