£5,000 to help travellers get NHS care in Sussex (From The Argus)

£5,000 to help travellers get NHS care in Sussex

11:30am Friday 1st March 2013 in News

Thousands of pounds is to be spent on making it easier for the gypsy and traveller community to get NHS care.

Melissa Kerr, a health visitor from Lewes, has been awarded a £5,000 grant from the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) to carry out work in her area.

She is one of just ten nurses nationally to be awarded the grant for this year from the QNI’s fund for innovation and leadership.

The fund is a year-long programme which aims to test new ideas and improve care delivered by nurses, allied health professionals and their teams in the community.

Ms Kerr, who works for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Members of the gypsy and traveller community often do not have access to adequate or equitable healthcare or public health resources.

“Their contact with health services is often unplanned, at short notice and they may only access a service once before they move on.

“The project aims to help gypsies and travellers access appointments in relation to childhood immunisations, dental health, mental health, contraception, breastfeeding and perinatal depression.

“I’ll also be working with the local gypsy and traveller community to develop resources for them around public health and the importance of accessing these services.”

The results of the project will be publicised nationally so other organisations can learn from the work done.

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