Within our Primary Care Network, we have qualified clinicians who work in practice and in the community, to help improve mental and physical health and well-being.. All our services work closely with one another and may signpost patients to other local services if required.
If you feel that any of the services detailed below could help you, speak to a member of our practice team today.
Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP)
The ACP provides support for both general practice and the community team within the PCN.
They will provide care by taking a clinical assessment and deciding on an appropriate course of treatment to meet the patient’s needs as will as follow ups, reviews and acting appropriately on any results and referrals. The ACP will interview patients, take medical history, perform physical examinations, and explain medical problems during both surgery consultations and home visits. They will create individual health care plans to instruct and educate patients and conduct telephone consultations to follow up and review patients on a regular basis.
Counselling Service
Unique to our PCN is our own in-house counselling team, made up of 4 qualified counsellors and a team of mentored students to deliver psychological intervention to patients. As a team, they provide disorder specific assessment and evidence-based low intensity eclectic interventions for people with anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, and bereavement. The service offers a wide range of interventions, including face to face, telephone, psycho-education and one to one work. They will support you through an assessment to determine the most appropriate pathway of care and support for you.
Patient feedback:
“The doctor referred me immediately after saying I couldn’t cope. It was exactly what I needed to work through my issues. The monkey and owl analogies were useful, along with the sleep strategies. I feel like a different person and a high percentage of that is due to the counselling here.”
“Totally changed way of thinking. Would like to say thank you for that.”
Dietitian
The Dietitian provides support for patients with milk allergy, high HbA1c that requires weight reducing support in diabetes and malnourished patients in the community and care homes. The Dietitian is available to answer any nutrition queries and provide education where required to GPs, nurses, and health care assistants. We are the only PCN in our local area, with our own in-house dietitian.
Social Prescriber
Social prescribing can help individuals improve a patients overall health & well-being by making positive changes which can reduce the need for primary and secondary care. A Social Prescriber will assess areas of need, discuss what is important to them and create a personalised plan, linking the patient to community activities & services. Areas social prescribing can help with are; financial and housing issues, mental & emotional well-being, social inclusion, access to community activities, voluntary services & digital support, weight management, nutrition and becoming more active.
Health & Well-being Coaches
Our Health and Well-being Coaches will work with patients over a number of sessions, supporting them to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence, helping them to become active participants in their own health and well-being. Unique to our PCN, the coaches work with patients with a long-term condition such as type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, or high blood pressure and with those who are at risk of developing a long-term condition, providing support and preventive measures to help reduce this risk. The coaches look to encourage structure and routine to help the patient incorporate this into their day-to-day life and to ensure they are doing what is right for them. They can also refer on to external partners if felt more appropriate. This could be weight management sessions, exercise sessions or our in house escape pain course.
Patient feedback:
“My weight had significantly reduced, and I am attending the gym twice a week, which I really enjoy. The coaches were very knowledgeable about what is available in the local area. I would not be where I am now without the teams support. ”
“ I love having the health and wellbeing support – they were very motivating and helped me on my journey.”
Escape Pain Programme
Our Health and Well-being coaches run a ESCAPE-pain programme, which is only programme in our area.
Escape Pain is a group-based, rehabilitation programme for the management of osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. It integrated educational self-management and coping strategies with an exercise element for each participant. It is designed for people to understand their condition and teach them simple things to help themselves to cope with the pain better.
This programme can offer patients:
- A basic understanding of osteoarthritis and how symptoms can be managed through theory-based sessions. Lasting roughly 20-30 mins
- A structed exercise plan which has been known to improve and slow down symptoms of hip and knee osteoarthritis. Lasting 30 mins
- A confidential environment where patients are open and honest about their current and previous experiences with coping with osteoarthritis.
- A quantitative approach to seeing how symptoms have improved through surveys and qualitative approach of the same through patient feedback forms.
Patient feedback:
“Since attending the course I have less knee pain and feel much better, more motivated, and more active.”
“I am so surprised in my improvement. I had lost a lot of confidence walking and was afraid to stand for long periods of time due to the pain. With support and encouragement, I feel much more confident.”
“This is a course that would benefit so many people, it should be further extended in the community.”
Patient Advice Service
Our Patient Advice Service (PAS) is provided by the Department of Work and Pensions. The employment advisor can support patients who are either employed or unemployed, with health conditions and disabilities, support a return to work, or prevent patients from coming out of work. The service can help patients find a route back to work by helping with CV making, advice on training & computer skills, or as an advocate to liaise with their employer. It provides a safe, familiar environment for patients to discuss concerns around work, while signposting and referring to other suitable services, if required.