Whitechapel team tackling homelessness receives national award

Smiles all round for the Pathway Homeless team Pic: Pathways.

An NHS Trust organisation which offers support to vulnerable homeless people in Tower Hamlets has received national recognition for its work at the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The awards allow the NHS and MPs to collectively acknowledge and honour some of the greatest achievements in health and social care, from across the country.

The Pathway Homeless team, led by local GP Dr. Peter Buchman, were nominated for the Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award by Jim Fitzpatrick, MP for Poplar and Limehouse.

Fitzpatrick said: “I am absolutely delighted that the Pathway Homeless Team are the national winners in the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

“This is well-deserved and a great example of joint working between ELFT, Barts Health, and the Clinical Commissioning Group to truly support homeless people.”

According to The East London NHS Trust, those that are homeless often experience a multitude of complex physical and mental health problems. Issues of addiction are also often a hinderance.

The Pathway work to combat these issues by working to prevent the homeless from being discharged from hospital back on to the street. Instead, they look to find other options for housing, healthcare and ongoing support in the community for rough sleepers.

The team also encourage homeless people and those in temporary housing to register with a doctor at Health E1 Homeless Medical Centre in Brick Lane in Aldgate.

Despite efforts by organisations such as the Pathway Homeless team and the local council, Tower Hamlets retains some of the highest rates of homelessness across the capital.

According to homeless charity Shelter, 1 in 44 people in Tower Hamlets are without a fixed abode. This ranks the borough as the 9th worst in the country for rates of homelessness.

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