A TEAM of NHS volunteers are helping Whitley residents keep on top of their health through a new project.
The Royal Berkshire Hospital’s patient experience engagement team (MEET PEET) and Whitley Community Development Association (WCDA) have come together for an initiative called Wellbeing Wednesdays.
The walk-in programme, which piloted in July, sees South Reading residents receive free monthly health checks and medical advice at the Whitley Community Centre on Northumberland Road.
Its remit is to bring healthcare to communities where access and uptake is limited for one reason or another, empowering people and giving them the confidence to take ownership of their health.
Project lead, Sharon Herring, said: “There’s lots of barriers that come into play, whether it’s language, culture or trust.
“We’re taking our services to communities which have this reputation of being hard to reach, but actually aren’t, they’re just seldom heard.
“It’s flipping it on its head; we have this fantastic resource [the community cafe] and so rather than doing something different, we can build a relationship with the community together.”
Wellbeing Wednesdays bring healthcare to the people on a monthly basis, through its team of trusted and qualified volunteers.
Sessions also offer support to carers tasked with looking after those with disabilities.
The organisers have identified potential barriers preventing members of the community from receiving healthcare they are entitled to.
Karen O’Leary, care lead at Royal Berkshire Hospital, said: “People don’t always have the confidence to realise they are entitled to access healthcare.
“If you’re living in a lower socioeconomic group, you don’t have the same access to education, you haven’t got the same opportunities in life, you don’t feel
Diversity is an important part of the project’s provision and the community it serves, but it is also apparent in the specialisms of the team of volunteers.
Ms Herring said: “We’ve got Cherry [Antonio] who does elderly care and dementia, Justina [Bangura] has expertise in diabetes, Sarah [Lupai] specialises in gastro, I’m cardiac, Natasha [Allen] is maternity and Karen [O’Leary] is the carer lead.
“We’ve got all different people who can offer specific information. People ask for all different types of things so it’s quite good that we can solve them.”
Lead midwife Natasha Allen said the success of the programme was largely down to building trust with users, especially those who might not ordinarily reach out for support.
Volunteers don’t wear uniforms when, instead choosing to don their blue MEET PEET T-shirts.
Ms Allen said: “You’d be surprised by the amount of things people will tell us because they trust us.
“They know we’ll give them the time, they haven’t got an appointment which lasts 10 minutes, and they’re out the door.
“You can have a chat with them in the cafe and start the conversation over a cup of tea to get kick-started.”
By the very nature of the project, it inevitably relieves pressure off of GPs and A & Es and also helps signpost visitors to appropriate support, which may not necessarily be in the form of a doctor.
This allows visitors to avoid the hassle of booking appointments and waiting times.
Moving forward, the team is looking forward to supporting new visitors, but also assessing those returning for a second time. That way, they can gain feedback on how their recommendations have helped users.
As well as regular events such as Wellbeing Wednesdays, MEET PEET is proactive in bringing their services to one-off events.
The team were present at recent events such as Reading Pride, Reading Mela and the Kenyan Family Funday to offer free on-site health checks and advice.
