Jimmy had come into 999 Club for the early bird breakfast. which we provide twice a week from our Gateway Drop-in Centre. He had been sleeping on the streets, was hungry and had heard 999 Club was a safe place to come.
He had some hot food and started to relax. The people serving the food seemed friendly, so he decided to approach one of them and ask for a plaster for the untreated wound he had on his hand.
When the worker saw the hand, they were concerned. This wasn’t a little scratch or cut. The hand looked broken, swollen and possibly infected.
“Have you had that seen too?” they asked
“Nah, no point,” Jimmy replied “they won’t see people like me anyway”
Sadly, Jimmy was speaking from experience. People experiencing homelessness are routinely denied access to health care because of their housing situation; Indeed, he majority of GP practices will not register someone if they are experiencing homelessness. This is despite Government guidance unchanged for several years, which clearly states that homeless people should be able to register with a GP despite their current living arrangements. However, even if people are registered with a GP the stigma around homelessness is such that they are routinely treated much worse than other patients; to such an extent that they are effectively denied services to which they are entitled.
As we every day when working with our unhoused members; poor health increases the risk of experiencing homelessness and, in turn, experiencing homelessness increases the risk of poor health. It’s a vicious cycle, and the longer medical issues are left unattended, the worse they can become.
While this may sound depressing, the good news for Jimmy is that the 999 Club works with an excellent Advanced Nurse Practitioner from the Amersham Vale Practice. They not only provide healthcare from a room at 999 Club but can also register people with a GP and make referrals to specialist healthcare services. Bringing NHS Healthcare to our members is the best chance we have ensure people like Jimmy get the medical care they need when they need it.
If you’re interested to learn more, our friends at Groundswell have some useful resources: on their website here: right to healthcare.