Special cancer screenings being held for Blackpool's homeless women

Women in Blackpool who are homeless or at risk of being made homeless are being invited to a vital cancer screening session as part of a project which is the first of its kind in the UK.
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The Homeless Health Hub Nursing Service, which was launched in January last year, has a remit of offering health provisions to the ‘hard to reach’ members of the community who find it harder to access health care.

A small team of nurses and other professionals deliver this NHS service, which comes under the wider umbrella of the Fylde Coast Medical Services.

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The special cancer screening session is being staged next week, at The Bridge Project (Salvation Army Citadel premises) on Raikes Parade, on Wednesday March 30, between 9am and 12.30pm.

The Homeless Health Hub Nursing Service teamThe Homeless Health Hub Nursing Service team
The Homeless Health Hub Nursing Service team

It will offer breast screening and cervical smears but will also provide much more.

As part of the service’s wider, holistic approach, there will also be nail-painting and pampering sessions, hot showers and refreshments laid on.

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Although people who are homeless are not easy to contact, the team liaise with other agencies such as housing, homeless hostels and substance misuse services, to inform them of the various health sessions on offer.

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There is also a dedicated bus, parked at Bank Hey Street every Thursday, which offers a general health clinic to homeless men and women as part of the same service.

Kelly Gorrie, who is the project’s nursing lead, said: “It is an innovative service, the first one of its kind in the country.

"It was recognised that people who were homeless were just not accessing health services and this was proving detrimental to their overall health and wellbeing.

“People who are homeless don’t generally have a GP and because of their complex lives they would normally miss the contact from the national screening scheme available to most people.

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"There are other professionals who tend to have more contact with homeless people, so it made sense to work in partnership with them so we could reach those missing out.”

The Homeless Health Hub Nursing Service was set up as part of an initiative prompted by Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group, to fill in the gaps in health provision among those living on the margins in Blackpool and the wider Fylde coast.

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