Hospitals offer help to homeless
Hospitals are now providing a safety net for the homeless with a team that addresses both their health and socio-economic problems.
The homelessness team at Ealing and Northwick Park hospitals can see up to 40 patients a month admitted for everything from skin ulcers and scabies to malnutrition to frostbite with numbers peaking during the winter months.
GPs, nurses and an occupational therapist address their physical problems while two housing officers sort out accommodation, benefit claims and finding missing documentation, such as birth certificates, passports and national insurance numbers.
Joe Laws, Housing Link Officer, said: “People are often admitted with no ID, so it takes a bit of detective work to build up a picture of who they are.
“We have good links with community and voluntary groups like St Mungo’s and use a database called CHAIN which details homeless people’s interactions with these groups on the street.”
Joe is a familiar presence on the hospital wards speaking to patients who have been flagged up as homeless and offering the team’s support.
“It is important not to judge people. There are a lot of reasons why people find themselves homeless and it isn’t always to do with substance abuse or criminal activity.”
Ealing has the second biggest homeless population in the capital of around 2,000 with a 24% reduction in numbers in the past year as groups like the homelessness team co-ordinate their efforts.
A personal health budget is allocated to the homeless by the local integrated care board which Jo uses to pay for essentials like a simple mobile phone, clothes and toiletries.
A nurse will also visit discharged patients with on-going health problems in the community. "Joe, who was born in Ealing Hospital, added: “I’m a jack-of-all-trades really and always happy to help. I can also be found giving patients a haircut if needed".
The homelessness team are always looking for donated clothes that they can give to patients. If you have spare items please email the team with details of what you can donate on lnwh-tr.homelesspathway@nhs.net before leaving them at the hospital.