The Tower Hamlets Women’s Health Hub based at Mile End Hospital is led by a multidisciplinary team offering a single point of access for women’s health advice and triage to the right service.
Tower Hamlets faces significant challenges in managing women’s health, including increased demand for chronic health concerns like menopause, menstrual health, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and amongst others. However, not all health issues can be solved with a pill. Following discussions about the possibility of having a social prescriber based at the hub on a weekly basis, Barts Health stepped in to fund a part-time social prescriber provided by the GP Care Group for a five-month pilot. This pilot has now been extended to the end of October 2024.
Available every Wednesday morning at the Women’s Health Hub, the social prescriber is helping to increase capacity to meet the non-medical needs of women across Tower Hamlets.
With the added benefit that the social prescriber also speaks Bangali, feedback shared has been great, with Barts Health praising the service on their “inspiring work” that’s been “a huge benefit to our patients”.
The following narrative includes highlights from a case study report by our social prescriber illustrating how social prescribing support can bring relief and resolution to an issue that is not medical.
Patient age at time of referral: 78 years old
Patient gender: Female
Patient pseudonym: CE
Ethnicity: Black African
When I made contact, the patient seemed a little confused about why I was calling. Initially CE thought I was calling because of her medication. After our conversation, I was able to understand that the patient had ordered medication from her GP and had not yet received it. It was usually delivered to the patient’s home.
During our conversation, CE spoke about the struggles she faces with walking and standing. This affects her mobility, and she becomes breathless. CE uses a walking stick, but has to stop every couple of minutes. She is not able to cook and clean for herself, but is able to bathe and dress herself.
A referral to Tower Hamlet’s Adult Social Care team was made, but I made the patient aware that they do not provide support with cooking and cleaning. This is more around support from the Occupational Therapy team who I could see she was already allocated to, and they would be able to assess and see how they can support the patient to do everyday tasks and stay independent. If CE needed further support, she would be referred to the Social Care team via them.
In Addition, CE mentioned that she doesn’t sleep well. She complained of aches and pains, due to her bed and mattress not being suitable. The patient is on basic Pension Credit and has no other income. CE can just about pay for food and bills and does not have any money left over for additional costs. This is the reason why CE is not able to pay for someone to cook or clean for her.
Some positive outcomes included:
Social prescriber contacted the patient two days after the bed and mattress was delivered and patient said:
"I haven’t slept this well in forever, thank you so much for everything my daughter, God bless you my dear daughter.”
