From August, as part of a new campaign by NHS North East London and Queen Mary University of London, GP practices will be asking their patients four question about their day-to day lives in order to gain a more holistic picture of their health.
Around 500,000 adults in the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, City of London, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest will be asked four yes/no questions by their GP practice:
The questions will either be sent by text message or asked during a routine interaction with the practice. GPs will use the information to provide personalised health advice and signpost to local services that can help address the problems directly.
Data from the Office for National Statistics show that people living in more affluent areas of the UK live almost ten years longer than people in deprived areas. Housing conditions, money, social isolation and understanding of health advice all play a part by significantly impacting our opportunities to be healthy. These ‘wider determinants of health’ have as much influence on our health as health care services do.
The Clinical Effectiveness Group (CEG) at Queen Mary has co-designed this initiative with NHS North East London to help GPs reduce the impact these factors have on the health of people in the region. By identifying people with problems that are not directly related to their health but can impact it, primary care teams can better work with community services to address these issues.
Currently 80% of practices in north east London have signed up to take part in the campaign which starts this month and will run for two years, with a view to implementing the approach as routine in the longer term to help people get the support they need and address health inequalities in the region.
Keith Prescott, Programme Lead, Clinical Effectiveness Group, Queen Mary University of London, says:
“Many people in north east London are living without some of the essential means for good health, like quality housing and good pay. We are working with local NHS teams to counter the impact of these wider determinants of health in the region. If you receive the text message, please respond – it will make a difference. It will enable your GP to signpost you to services that can help, and also provide you with the best and most appropriate healthcare.”
Dr Jagan John, a local GP and board member at NHS North East London, says:
"There are many different factors that can affect a person's health so taking a few moments to read and respond to these text messages will help us provide personalised advice to people in north east London that can support them to improve their wellbeing.
"The information we receive will enable us to offer tailored health recommendations or signpost people to services that can offer them specialist support with a range of issues. It will also help us anticipate demand for services and to develop new initiatives that directly address the needs of our local communities."
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