NHS health workers to be sent house-to-house to tackle Britain's sickness crisis
Healthcare workers are set to be sent door to door under ambitious government plans to cut sick leave and hospital visits.
Healthcare workers will be sent from house to house in bid to reduce hospital visits and reduce the number of people claiming sickness benefits. The programme is part of a wider effort to increase the efficiency of the NHS and ease the burden on the system.
It is hoped that the NHS scheme will also address issues such as debt, unemployment and bereavement which also place considerable strain on the system. According to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, early trials of the scheme have reduced hospital waiting times and visits by regular attendees to A&E who he calls “frequent fliers”. He told The Telegraph: "I’m actually really interested in the community health worker model and the impact it’s having." A pilot scheme, started in 2021 in Pimlico by a group of GPs, suggested that the measures could reduce hospital admissions by 10% and A&E visits by 7%.
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They have also shown that visits led to an 82% increased likelihood of attending cancer screening and NHS health checks compared with homes that have not yet been visited.
Under the proposals which will be rolled out initially in 25 areas, health workers will be given patches of approximately 120 homes top which they will make monthly visits where required.
The scheme would also allow healthcare workers to identify and advise on issues such as mould and damp, poverty, loneliness and unpaid bills.
The plans have been likened to the return of a family doctor who makes regular visits but critics have labelled the level of government interference as being like the “nanny state on steroids".
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The scheme has been used to great effect in Brazil, with the mastermind behind the proposals, Dr Matthew Harris, having worked as a GP there between 1999 and 2003.
The model in the South American country has been praised for helping to reduce heart condition-related deaths by more than a third.
Dr Harris said: "When it comes to concern around state interference or nanny state, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is doing that on steroids.
"It’s knocking on doors, and you might be forgiven for thinking it’s interference. But it’s actually giving control back to the resident."
It is believed that if the scheme is targeted at the areas with the highest need, it will cost around £300 million.
