Health and Wellbeing Board’s homeless health pledge

Blackburn with Darwen’s Health and Wellbeing Board has pledged support to improve the health of homeless people.

The board has committed itself to on-going work to tackle the ill health of homeless people locally by signing homelessness charity St Mungo’s Broadway’s ‘Homeless Health Charter’.

St Mungo’s Broadway asked supporters to write to the chairs of all 152 Health and Wellbeing Boards in England to take urgent action in their area as part of its Homeless Health Matters campaign.

In a report, ‘Homeless Health Matters: the case for change’, it outlined eleven recommendations to improve things for homeless people.

These include: ensuring the health needs of single homeless people are included in Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA); working with local homelessness agencies to collect information on homeless health needs, including access to local services as well as working with client involvement groups to ensure needs assessments, strategies and commissioning decisions are informed by the experiences of homeless people.

Work is already on-going in Blackburn with Darwen by the Health and Wellbeing board and Council that takes in many of the recommendations in the report with the borough noted as performing significantly better than the English average for statutory homelessness in Public Health England’s Health Profiles 2014.

Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, Blackburn with Darwen Council Leader Councillor Mohamed Khan, put pen to paper on the charter at the board’s most recent meeting on Tuesday, September 29.

Councillor Khan said:

We have absolutely no hesitation in signing up to try and ensure the best possible health outcomes for the borough’s homeless. Homeless people have some of the highest levels of poor health within our society and we back this campaign which demands action to improve the health of some of the most vulnerable.

Dominic Harrison, Director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen, said:

Homeless people are some of the hardest people to reach when it comes to providing healthcare and advice and yet many are in the greatest need. By signging the charter we are committing to continue to identify the specific needs of homeless people, developing services that take those needs into account and that are welcoming and easy to access.

Chris Clayton, Clinical Chief Officer for Blackburn with Darwen CCG, said:

Homeless people are particularly at risk as they might not have the same access to GPs that others enjoy, nor the same support of family and friends, so it is imperative we commit any help we can offer to address this.