A new community hub has opened its doors, providing health and wellbeing support to patients in inner city Gloucester.
With artwork on the walls and a fresh and contemporary feel, Gloucester Inner City Health and Wellbeing Community Hub provides a relaxing and calm space.
Based within Gloucester Health Access Centre (GHAC) in Quay Street it provides a unique environment where additional services such as bereavement and anxiety counselling, stop smoking advice and benefits advice can be delivered.
GHAC is one of a group of practices in the Gloucester Inner City Primary Care Network (GICPCN). Some of the other services patients can access at the hub will include social prescribing and health checks.
Leighla Davenport, Business Manager at GICPCN said the hub was designed to be a community space where people can receive non-medical help.
“We wanted to be able to offer a peaceful space for our patients,” said Leighla.
“We hope that the space puts patients at ease.”
The thoughtfully curated artwork in the hub has been loaned by Art Shape, a local charity which delivers therapy through creativity. The paintings, which create a restful atmosphere, will be rotated on a regular basis.
Another key element for staff at the PCN, is providing a facility for health and care practitioners to work in a more joined up (integrated) way with voluntary sector colleagues.
One of the more innovative services offered at the hub is the new ‘benefits MOT’ which will enable practitioners to make sure patients understand their benefits entitlement so they get the right support.
Leighla added: “We know we can’t just look at clinical issues in isolation if we want to address the challenges people experience with their health and wellbeing. It has to be the bigger picture, so the hub will enable us to take that holistic approach.
A key example of this would be mental health problems which we know can be linked to financial issues, so by helping to resolve these, we can help a person get better.”
The significance of the hub is even greater because it is dedicated to a much-loved colleague, Dr Imran Rafi, a GP at Partners in Health, who died five years ago.
Dr Rafi’s wife Afsheen and two children opened the hub and were moved to see a framed photograph of Dr Rafi in the hub.
Afsheen said: “I am really pleased and overwhelmed that my husband’s colleagues thought of such a nice way to remember him.
This means such a lot to me, and to my kids. We are so proud of him and I want to thank them for recognising him in this way.”
Dr Teresa Pietroni, a GP at Partners in Health, said she had worked with Dr Rafi for 14 years and that he was ‘adored’ by patients and colleagues alike. Dr Pietroni described her colleague as an excellent clinician who was determined to get things right and was committed to looking after those around him.
The GHAC site is one of four current locations earmarked for hubs in areas where people face health inequalities (the term which describes unfair or avoidable differences in health across the population).
The Stroud Road Community Hub in Gloucester opened in June and is now thriving, offering a range of different activities and support to help residents connect and lead healthier lives. These include a crafting group, a men’s mental health group and a Parkinson’s café.
