This page describes the efforts of the League of Friends of the Chalfonts and Gerrards Cross Hospital to develop this community hospital as a hub for health and wellbeing applying Social Prescribing to engage people in local, county and national organisations and groups that can help them improve their physical and mental health and address wellbeing issues such as loneliness and lack of emotional and financial support.
This is the Chair of our League of Friends, Sara Sabine opening a new Audiology Unit at our hospital with equipment funded by the LoF. This is one of the 30 Clinics and services offered by our hospital by Consultants, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals. They provide services in our clinics, in people's homes and in local schools. We are working with our local Primary Care Network, NHS Trust, local authorities and charities to help us develop as a Community Hub for Health and Wellbeing. The picture above shows our 60th Anniverary. Cake is of course an important ingredient for community health and wellbeing.
Community Hubs for Health and Wellbeing, offering Social Prescribing and a wide range of “Hospital at Home” and “Day Hospital Services” together with integrated social care and community engagement are part of the Integrated Care System being developed across the County. The Buckinghamshire integrated care system is committed to creating ‘one Buckinghamshire, one integrated health and care system’, working together under the banner of ‘Your community, your care” for more details see the NHS England site : https://www.england.nhs.uk/integratedcare/integrated-care-systems/buckinghamshire-ics/ The Buckinghamsire Clinical Commissioning Group describe this as a way of working that brings together the expertise of health and social care organisations, community groups and local charities to help people live well for longer, see their web site at https://www.buckinghamshireccg.nhs.uk/integrated-care-systems/ . A Buckinghamshire Integrated Care Board has now been established to commission health, social care, patient transport and other wellbeing services and to work in partnership with community organisations to improve health and wellbeing see Integrated Care Partnership | Integrated Care Partnership (yourcommunityyourcare.org.uk)
National Resources to support Community Hubs and Social Prescribing
A very useful guide to setting up and running a Community Hub for Health and Wellbeing can be found on the My Community web site at http://mycommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Community-Hubs-FINAL.pdf
A further resource to support the development of Community Hubs for Health and Wellbeing can be found on the King's Fund web site at https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/improving-publics-health/strong-communities-wellbeing-and-resilience.
A wide range of resources to inform and help evaluate options for social prescribing can be found on the resources page of - The Social Prescribing Network: https://www.socialprescribingnetwork.com/ A recent addition has been the formation of the National Academy for Social Prescribing: http://socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/