From: Valerie John-Charles
Topic: Homelessness

I work with homeless persons at the Greenhouse in Hackney – a service developed in collaboration with Thamesreach and St. Mungo’s to care for the needs of homeless people holistically. Homelessness is not a new problem and as far as we can see is rapidly becoming a major problem as the bite of the economic downturn becomes reality. A service like ours is classed as expensive – it is when you consider the major health problems these people have.

We see and care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society – those abused, released from prison; released from care; street sex workers; victims of domestic violence; products of family breakup; refugees and asylum seekers; victims of the economic climate; those with no recourse to public funds; Eastern Europeans; substance mis-users; alcoholics; people suffering with enduring mental health. These are just a few that come through our door – many of whom lead very chaotic lives with no order. This group of people will have an enormous effect on the economy in years to come, we know this and yet we ignore them.

Government after government has failed to tackle the issue or allow practices like ours to further develop our services to offer more in-depth work with this group. They all want to be productive members of society but are knocked back and failed by our systems each time they try to make changes. They may fall when reaching the first hurdle time and time again but eventually they will make changes with the commitment and input from a team like ours.

I was involved in the round table that produced the Health Inclusion document, but who is overseeing the commissioners, ensuring they provide appropriate services for this group? True, general practice can provide care for these patients, but they need more intense continuing care, which involves health and social care working in partnership. I plead with the DH not to allow practices like us to disappear – the results will be terrible not just for the most vulnerable but for society at large.