Homeless crisis looms as hardship forces more people than ever to sleep rough

Financial hardship is forcing more people than ever on to the streets – as money problems turn into crises more quickly than in the past.

More of the street community are suffering violent and sexual attacks and about 20 people a year are dying.

Dr Tim Worthley, one of the city’s leading professionals working with the street community, told The Argus he was treating more and more people who are living on the streets.

He has called for drastic action to prevent the situation escalating.

He said Brighton urgently needed a central hub where rough sleepers could access services in the same place.

“It is very hard on the streets,” he said.

“We are seeing many more assaults on homeless people, mainly from attacks from outside the community.

“They have been set on fire, kicked and urinated on. Often it’s at pub closing time.

“But that is only the homeless people we see – a lot more never get as far as the surgery.

“There are more economic homeless than a few years ago.

“When I first started seven years ago it was very rare to find people who had become homeless because they had lost their job or divorced and couldn’t afford two homes or who had to give up their homes because of the bedroom tax.

“They were usually people with very difficult mental health and social problems who were on the streets.

“All the emergency accommodation is now being given to mums with babies and it means people with severe mental and physical illness are still on the streets.

“It is a desperate situation and it must be down to austerity.

“We are seeing these problems grow all over the country but Brighton has always been a destination for homeless people.”

Last year official figures showed one in 69 people in Brighton and Hove was homeless or living in temporary housing. The latest rough sleeper count, held on one night in November, showed 144 people sleeping on the streets, double the number from the previous year.

However there are some positives.

The use of the dangerous synthetic drug spice has dropped significantly as had the number of suicides, something Dr Worthley is convinced is connected.

“We had a whole spate of suicides a couple of years ago and there have been fewer in the past year and I put that down to the reduction in the use of spice.

“There were five suicides in 2015 and only two or three in 2016.”

He fears that despite some progress the current situation is unsustainable and the city needs a radical new solution.

He said: “If we don’t do anything or stay as we are, the situation is going to get much worse.

“What Brighton really needs is a big homeless hub, a one stop shop, something the community can really get behind. It could make a huge difference in Brighton.

“All these services are already paying rent, all we need is a a building.”

MANY HAVE BEEN LET DOWN EVER SINCE THEY WERE BORN

WALKING down Western Road or St James’s Street, or any of Brighton and Hove’s main streets, you can’t help but notice there seem to be more rough sleepers than ever.

The situation is dire and those sleeping in doorways include the elderly, seriously ill and many others who would previously have qualified for emergency housing.

Now, because of the levels of homelessness, double amputees and people who have just suffered strokes continue to sleep on the streets.

There are so many in desperate need that only mothers with babies and those in the worst medical circumstances get the very few rooms available.

Many of those are out of the city.

One of Doctor Tim Worthley’s patients, a man who recently suffered a stroke and was treated in Worthing, was found a place to live in Newhaven.

But without any money for a bus fare he spent all day walking into central Brighton to see Dr Worthley, then going to Worthing for a hospital appointment.

The situation is desperate but rather than just admitting defeat, Dr Worthley thinks he has an idea that could help.

“Being homeless is a full-time job. Getting a doctor’s appointment can take three hours, then they have to get to First Base for a shower and breakfast.

“Often they have to make the decision between going to the doctors or having breakfast.

“If they have to go to the job centre or the council that’s several more hours.

“There is so much waiting and rushing around pretty much all on foot and often without a phone because they have been stolen or run out of charge or credit.

“The difference we could make by having substance misuse, mental health, needle exchange, GPs social worker and housing officers in one building would be substantial.

“We find as soon as people leave the building it’s harder to get them to engage again, even if you ask them to come back for an appointment that same afternoon.

“It is so hard on the streets and a crisis will occur.

“Quite often these people have been let down by services from the second they were born. In accessing services they must first overcome that distrust.

“When patients come in for the first time they can be suspicious and expect to be turned away or treated in a prejudicial manner.”

Dr Worthley is now hoping to find a central location that could house a hub and he is calling for the owners of vacant buildings to help.

With authorities struggling to afford to make changes he hopes ordinary members of the public can help.

In Brighton and Hove the temporary housing team has been stopped, the night shelter closed and the nearest rape crisis centre is in Crawley.

Private business people have already been helping the situation.

In February the owner of the vacant former police station in Hollingbury opened the building up to the homeless.

“There are definitely more homeless people at the moment,” Dr Worthley said.

“People have always wanted to come to Brighton. People can get angry about ‘non-local’ homeless but we as a city have never shipped out more people than we do now.

“We are sending people to places in Newhaven and Hastings and once they leave the city they lose that local link and it makes it so much harder.

“I often ask people why they come to Brighton in the first place and quite often it is because they go to London, then find it’s a bit overwhelming and end up here.

“But often it’s because they remember having a nice holiday here as a child and it may be one of the only positive experiences of their lives.

“And so few people in Brighton are really Brighton born and bred. We chose to come here and stay here so what right do we have more than someone who is homeless?

“Statutory services are struggling. Somewhere in this there should be a real message of hope that we can do something and change things, not just stories of how awful it it.

“Brighton is such an innovative city but our response to homelessness is so staid. I feel we should be leading the way here. “

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WE’RE DOING OUR BEST TO PROVIDE CARE

THE Morley Street surgery which treats the city’s homeless was taken over by Arch Healthcare at the start of February.

A community interest company, Arch was set up by clinicians and professionals to address the health needs of vulnerable and homeless people in the city.

In November it won the contract for the next three years, taking over from The Practice Group.

Dr Worthley said that the change in ownership had been a big boost to the help on offer.

He said: “We are not there to make money, just to do the best we can for local homeless people.

“What we want to do is give as much as possible as close to normal care.

“We don’t want to just patch people up and send them on their way.

“We need to understand them and make a lasting difference in their lives.”

He said that his patients are usually in dire need of treatment by the time they turn up at the surgery. People’s health needs come low down on their priorities after getting something to eat and having somewhere to live.”

Dr Worthley said his patients most frequently suffered from a series of conditions.

These include tri-morbidity, which is a combination of physical health problems, addiction and mental health problems.

Common conditions include COPD (emphysema) and amputation, a result of their tough life on the streets.

Others are from smoking at a young age, mental health problems and drug and alcohol issues.