PG5: SUPORTING THE HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES PG6: HELPING CHILDREN IN CHINA TO LIVE HEALTHIER LIVES PG7: THE BENEFITS OF HEALTH CARE FROM A SINGLE POINT OF ACCESS PG8: SOCIAL ISOLATION: IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH INTERACTION PG10: MEET OUR CLINICAL CONTACT CENTRE TEAM
Your source for the latest news from Everyone Health
Issue 1: Spring 2019
A WARM WELCOME TO OUR FIRST EVERYONE HEALTH NEWSLETTER
SAYS HELLO! Everyone Health works with local authorities across the UK, providing a number of free, evidence based services to help our population to become healthier.
Since 2014, we have been working with local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups across the country to deliver a range of healthcare and health intervention programmes into communities. These services were previously delivered under the brands of Weight Management Centre Ltd and Everyone Health (part of SLM Ltd). Four years on, in April 2018, we were delighted to merge the two entities to form Everyone Health Ltd, a company in its own right.
growing number of health programmes. We conducted focus groups with both patients and referrers to ensure each of these programmes is accessible, attractive, and able to meet the needs of our service users.
With the health of the nation continuing to pose a fundamental challenge for the UK, Everyone Health Ltd’s role is more essential than ever, and our services continue to provide commissioners with evidence-based delivery options that make a real difference to the health of local communities.
Each service is rooted in behavioural change techniques. They are delivered by our local teams of highly-skilled health experts, who are supervised by a central body of Professional Lead and Governance team members. This structure allows us to deliver bespoke health programmes into diverse communities, while maintaining a consistent level of quality across them all. It is a novel approach in the commissioned delivery of public health, and one which we will continue
We have been continuing to develop our service offering, and have started 2019 by successfully delivering a
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The services we deliver help to tackle a breadth of public health issues, including addiction, adult weight management, mental and emotional wellbeing, sexual health, dementia, preventable illness, and school and work-based health.
to develop, along with our academic and practitioner colleagues. As we turn our attentions to the year ahead, we are faced with some challenges. Earlier this year the Government announced its long-term plan for the NHS. With this came a renewed focus on preventative healthcare. This is something we welcome, but funding cuts for intervention services poses a challenge for a straight forward solution. I am confident, however, that through our commitment to continuous improvement and by working closely with our commissioners and stakeholders, we can make a real difference to the lives of the communities and service users we serve.
Emma Croghan Emma Croghan Head of Everyone Health
This newsletter marks a new approach to keeping you informed, and we would love to hear your thoughts about how we can improve it. Please send your suggestions through to newsletter@everyonehealth.com
SUPPORTING THE HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
A look back on 2018 We experienced rapid growth last year, acquiring three new contracts and expanding our current partnerships to offer additional services.
2018 was a landmark year for us as we officially became our own legal entity, Everyone Health Ltd, on 1 April 2018. We now deliver healthcare services on behalf of 12 upper-tier local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups, and as a result are helping thousands of people across the country to lead healthier lives.
Staffordshire Lifestyle Service
We are expanding into new areas of healthcare provision to offer more services from a single point of access, and we are constantly developing our colleagues to provide the highest quality care. Every employee at Everyone Health undergoes COM-B Behavioural Change training at University College London, ensuring the quality of our service delivery and a consistent approach across all of our contracts. Take a look at the map below to see all the areas where Everyone Health currently operates.
In spring 2018, we began a new partnership with Staffordshire County Council to deliver its Staffordshire Lifestyle Service. The Council identified that residents in the county were living longer, but not necessarily healthier lives, and enlisted our help to tackle this. The 52 areas where people face the biggest risk of poor health were identified, and we were tasked with delivering targeted healthcare services to adults aged 50 and over who reside here. The services include NHS Health Checks, smoking cessation, weight management, physical activity, falls prevention, social isolation and malnutrition. In addition, we’ve recently been commissioned to offer a universal smoking in pregnancy service.
In October, the two councils also commissioned us to run a healthy schools programme. In partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, we enable schools to deliver PSHE and sex and relationships education, as well as promote a whole-school approach to health and wellbeing. Sandwell NHS Checks In August 2018 we began a new partnership with Sandwell Council to deliver free NHS Health Checks to adults in the borough. Eligible adults aged 40 – 74 are offered the tests, which help them to understand their risks of developing preventable health concerns such as heart disease, type two diabetes and kidney disease.
The Health Checks are delivered at GP surgeries and community venues across the borough, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough we also visit local workplaces to Workplaces and Healthy Schools offer colleagues the opportunity to receive a check without having We extended our partnership with to leave the office. Cambridgeshire County Council in June 2018 when, in partnership We held an event to officially with Peterborough City Council, launch the service to the it commissioned us to deliver a community in November, which healthy workplace programme. saw representatives from Sandwell Council become some of the first to Through the programme, we offer receive the free checks. a number of free services aimed at keeping the area’s workforce Since launching the NHS Health in good health. They focus on Checks, we have also been helping to improve all aspects of commissioned to deliver a Stop employee wellbeing, including Smoking Service to adults in both physical and mental health. Sandwell, which began on 1st April 2019.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY IN HEALTH CARE FROM A SINGLE POINT OF ACCESS Increasing pressure on the NHS is caused, in part, by the failing health of an aging population. This means it is becoming increasingly important that our community health services are delivered efficiently and result in more effective interventions earlier on in people’s lives.
HELPING CHILDREN IN CHINA TO LIVE HEALTHIER LIVES In December, we were honoured to visit China on invitation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As the UK’s single biggest provider of child weight management programmes, we were asked to visit the world’s most populous country to offer advice on providing effective health interventions for children. During the nine-day trip, Head of Everyone Health Ltd, Emma Croghan, attended schools and hospitals in the areas of Kunming, Xi’an and Hangzhou and led round-table discussions with representatives from a number of China’s Provincial Governments. As well as children’s wellbeing, the conversations focused on some of country’s other health priorities, such as the development of healthier behaviours in adults and developing a proactive approach to preventative healthcare. China is a fantastically advanced country in many ways, but it is facing a critical time in the wellbeing of its population. Many of its health challenges echo those previously faced by the UK, while others reflect issues we are currently addressing. China too is dealing with the strains of an increasingly aging population and, like the UK, Type 2 diabetes poses one of the largest threats to its public health, with more
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than 400 million of its residents currently living with the condition. Developing healthy behaviours from a young age and rebalancing health inequalities in children are fundamental factors that will help to tackle these issues. This is what Everyone Health aims to do within communities across England, and Emma offered insights and advice on how we are achieving successful outcomes from our child weight management programmes. Jane Fulbrook, second secretary and head of northern China at the British Embassy in China, said: “We were absolutely delighted to work with Everyone Health, and to bring their considerable expertise to China in support of our work with regional China on public healthcare. “We very much look forward to further engagement with them on this important issue, and to cementing new region to region healthcare links between China and the UK.” Our trip to China proves that, whether it’s diverse local communities in England or a diverse nation of 1.4 billion people, healthcare providers can work together to help people across the world stay healthier for longer.
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Fantastic work is being done by healthcare providers across the country. However, discrepancies between the approaches taken by different agencies can lead to inefficiency, duplication and a failure to provide patients with the support they need. Everyone Health’s integrated care model prevents this by ensuring consistency across different services and clear communication between them. Here, service manager Brigitte McCormack talks about her experience of heading up one of our largest integrated services and the benefits of a single point of access. “In 2015, Cambridgeshire County Council commissioned Everyone Health to deliver its integrated Cambridgeshire Lifestyle Service. Since then, it has gone from strength-to-strength, and now helps thousands of people across the county to develop healthier habits. “Through the Lifestyle Service, we deliver 11 different programmes, making Cambridgeshire one of our largest contracts. It is also one of our most successful, with more than 400 patients benefitting from our services every month. “Cambridgeshire is home to diverse communities. It boasts a number of affluent districts, but also includes areas of high deprivation. Over the past three Everyone Cares Issue 1 Spring 2019
centrally also means they only need to tell their story once, and prevents them having to duplicate information when accessing a different service. This once again helps to streamline the referral processes and also reduces the risk of disengaging patients.
Brigette McCormack
years we have worked closely with the local authority, NHS, and community and voluntary organisations to ensure we reach residents from all areas who are looking to make positive changes to their lifestyles. “The programmes we deliver include adult and child weight management, NHS Health Checks, falls prevention and heath trainers. The Camquit stop smoking service also became part of the Lifestyle Service in 2017. “Every patient who accesses one of these services does so via the same process. The first benefit of this is felt by GPs, clinical administrators and other healthcare professionals. A single process that standardises all referrals reduces paperwork and eliminates the need to liaise with different agencies, helping to streamline their daily tasks.
“The dialogue between the different services we deliver also helps us to provide additional interventions where necessary. For example, it may be that a patient who has been helped to stop smoking starts to gain weight. In this instance, they can be referred directly into our weight management service without having to revisit their GP or complete a selfreferral process. “In short, a single point of access reduces the barriers that prevent people from accessing health services, and helps to retain their engagement once they join a programme. “The benefits of this approach in Cambridgeshire are demonstrated through the fantastic outcomes we’ve achieved. Over the past three years, more than 16,000 patients have used our services to make positive changed to their lifestyles.”
“Service users themselves also benefit from the consistency offered through a single point of access. “All of our 11 services in Cambridgeshire are designed to work together. This means that patients can be referred between programmes without ever having to leave the care of Everyone Health, reducing the rate of dropouts. Keeping patient’s information
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FEATURED SERVICE: SOCIAL ISOLATION IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH INTERACTION The population is ageing, and its healthcare needs are changing in accordance with people living longer. Our services need to reflect this change and help people to maintain their health into later life. Combatting social isolation is becoming an increasingly important part of our service offering. Loneliness is a problem that is particularly prevalent among older people, although it can affect people at all ages, and more local authorities are pulling on our support to tackle the issue and encourage healthy aging. Research indicates that social isolation can lead to mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. It also has detrimental effects on physical health and, according to some studies, can be as bad for a person as smoking around 15 cigarettes a day. Conversely, maintaining social interaction has been shown to improve both mental and physical health and keep people living happier, independent lives for longer. Tackling social isolation in Staffordshire We began working with Staffordshire County Council on 1st April 2018 to deliver seven services that help adults across the area to develop healthier behaviours. Our social isolation service is fundamental to this, and we currently run in excess of 15 programmes across 52
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wards in the county. Service users are provided with a mix of one-to-one support from our specialist health trainers and and access to group socialisation activities. Health trainers conduct initial assessments to understand each person’s individual needs, their interests and their concerns. Once they have built this profile, they then support users to access local services and direct them to the wealth of social groups we run in the community.
ANDY’S STORY
Many people, especially those who are already affected by loneliness, are often nervous about attending groups activities for the first time. Our health trainers eliminate this barrier by accompanying them to initial sessions to ensure they feel comfortable and secure their longterm participation.
Andy is a double amputee, and had become increasingly withdrawn since losing his second leg. Through our help, he now enjoys an active social life and is a member of community groups and a sports clubs. We also carried out a financial assessment to ensure he was in receipt of the correct benefits, which in turn provided him with the financial means to be more socially active.
We run a number of successful sessions in Staffordshire that aim to reduce social isolation. These include quiz evenings, craft mornings and our Everyone Loves a Natter events where people can meet to have a conversation over coffee and cake. We have also started to run specific sessions in sheltered housing schemes to help those living within them to socialise. Through these services we have seen older people across the county become more confident and independent, make new friendships and lead healthier, more fulfilled lives.
69-year old Andy was first introduced to Everyone Health when he attended a presentation at his sheltered housing complex. After being initially sceptical that it would be little more than a sales pitch, he soon realised that the services on offer were free and were being delivered in partnership with the County Council to improve the lives of its residents.
Health trainer Tanita Ncube and community engagement network lead, Louise Needham worked with Andy to understand how they could help him get out and about in the community. They introduced him to colleagues at his local gym who supported him to use adapted cycles. Since receiving prosthetic legs, Andy has also been helped to use different equipment and find new ways of getting active.
Andy says: “Louise and Tanita have been marvellous, so friendly, helpful and encouraging. I think there are a lot of people in the area who would benefit from their help.”
had previously been a keen kayaker. Both colleagues accompanied him on his first trip to the club and have since joined him on the water. Andy says: “It was here the tables turned. Sitting in a canoe I was the able one as all the old skills were still there. There were plenty of helping hands to get me in and out, and canoeing gives me a great way of getting exercise while sitting down.” Andy also attends Active Adults sessions at the town hall, which involve both physical exercise and mental stimulation. He has met new people through a shared love of literature, which is discussed as part of the sessions, and traveling to the town hall has enabled him to discovered new routes into other parts of town that he can take using his wheelchair. Andy says: “Louise and Tanita have been marvellous, so friendly, helpful and encouraging. I think there are a lot of people in the area who would benefit from their help.”
Andy also credits Tanita and Louise with motivating him to join the Burton Canoe Club after they discovered that he
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MEET OUR CLINICAL CONTACT CENTRE TEAM At the heart of Everyone Health’s service delivery sits our clinical contact centre. From our head office in Leicestershire, the centre’s team of 10 virtual behaviour change coaches provide the vital first contact with our service users as well as over-the-phone clinics and support. We caught up with clinical contact centre manager, Carol Harris, about the role of her team in supporting the wider business.
Why is the clinical contact centre so important to Everyone Health? The contact centre is a unique feature of Everyone Health. In most organisations similar to ours, initial communication is handled on a localised level for each service. Our approach of having a central team to manage these conversations means we can assure consistency across all of our 14 contracts. Working as a single team makes it easier to oversee communications and ensure the quality of the information, advice and support being offered is of the highest standard. The close proximity between team members also helps us to share best practise and quickly recognise areas for improvement. As the first point of contact for the majority of service users, it is essential that the clinical contact centre provides friendly, nonjudgemental support. Referrals can be met with different emotions. For example, a parent whose child has received a National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) letter may initially be upset when they are contacted. Providing
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information that helps to reassure them during that first conversation has a huge impact on the likelihood of a person progressing in our services.
details of each of these in order to provide accurate and detailed information. This required ongoing training relating to service changes or new contracts.
What does a normal day look like for colleagues in the clinical contact centres?
What does it take to be a virtual behavioural change coach?
Due to the volume and diversity of the calls we handle, no two days are ever the same for our virtual behavioural change coaches. Managing referrals is our main priority. These can come from GPs and other health professionals, school nurses and patients themselves. During an average month, we will handle in excess of 3,500 incoming call and make more than 4,500 outgoing. On top of this, we are continuously liaising with our community-based practitioners to coordinate new service users into their programmes. Everyone Health offers 15 different services across our contracts. It is the job of our virtual behavioural change coaches to know the
Our behavioural change coaches are health experts with a number of professional qualifications under their belts. Included in these is a National Centre for Smoking Cessation, RSPH and COM-B Behaviour change training. This allows us to add another dimension to our service delivery, with practitioners providing over-the-phone Stop Smoking Clinics. Through this remote service, we are able to engage more people by offering them a flexible service. In 2018 alone, our virtual behavioural change coaches helped to support more than 100 people through the clinics.
or ways to improve the service we offer and increase the number of referrals that convert into successful service users. Part of this continual improvement is the upskilling of our colleagues. We are in the process of putting all practitioners through Mental Health First Aider courses. With many of our service users having complex needs, it is essential that our team is able to offer support in all aspects of their wellbeing. This accreditation will give them the skills needed to talk confidently with people who are effected by mental health problems and ensure they are directed to the right support for them.
What are your aims for the coming year? We are continuously looking
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This newsletter marks a new approach to keeping you informed about all of the great things that have been happening at Everyone Health. We would love to hear your thoughts about how we can improve it and bring you more of the news that’s important to you. Please send your suggestions through to newsletter@everyonehealth.co.uk.