THE INCREASING PRESSURES and demand on health services with GP practices particularly stretched and seeking new ways of working has prompted an ‘information afternoon’ in Elgin.
‘Healthy Elgin’ will be hosted by the St Giles Church from 1pm until 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday) and will seek to provide the public with information on the Scottish Government’s programme for modernising Primary Care.
NHS Grampian has implemented a modernisation project involving six GP Practices throughout the region. One of the themes of the programme is involving communities and having conversations with patients and the public as to what can really make a difference to their health and wellbeing.
Community Renewal, a Charity/Third Sector organisation with many years of experience of working with communities, is working with the GP Practices to develop methods of engagement. For the last 18 months, Community Renewal has been listening to health staff, patients and other providers of health support to find out what they think would make a difference.
While most people know that they can go to their GP when they are ill, people are not always aware of the wide range of support and other services and advice that are available. It can be difficult to know where to turn to.
Dr Mark Houliston from the Elgin Community Surgery commented: “Patients often come to us because they know us, but in fact there may be other supports and services that would be able to help. As a busy GP it can be challenging to know where to find all the community support that could help.”
Carol Collins, a patient at the Community Surgery, added: “It would be great if we could bring everyone together, you know the public, health charities, opticians, pharmacy, complimentary therapies and others to see how many options there are, not just GPs.”
The St Giles event aims to bring everyone together – with Community Renewal, GPs and Embrace Elgin having arranged the network event that will bring together a range of businesses, charities and Health and Social Care staff to meet with each other and with the public.
The event will be open to the public from 1pm to 4pm and the aim is to let people see what is around in Elgin and to start a wider conversation about what people need to get well and keep well.
Gill Neill, manager at Elgin BID (Embrace Elgin) said: “We have lots of businesses and support agencies who can support the healthcare agenda within the city centre with a high quality, tailored service which meets people’s needs.
“We’re delighted to be able to showcase that Elgin cares about health – we are proud to be a Healthy Elgin”
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