Mobile Health Clinic for Vulnerable Groups in the UK

Launch a new Mobile Health Clinic service for hard-to-reach communities in the UK, delivered from a vehicle specially adapted for medical use and managed by a team of volunteer doctors, nurses and support workers.

Project objectives and activities

Doctors of the World UK have been helping the most marginalised and vulnerable people in society gain access to healthcare through our free health clinic and advocacy programmes for almost ten years.

In 2014, our London Health Clinic performed 1454 consultations – 91% lived below the poverty line, 75% of pregnant women had been without appropriate antenatal care, and 90% were not registered with a General Practitioner (GP). However, we know we are only seeing a small proportion of vulnerable people in the UK who cannot access healthcare.

Last year we turned away an average of twenty patients a month because we didn’t have capacity to see them, while only 11% of the patients we saw came from outside of Greater London.

Many vulnerable people, such as refugees or undocumented children, face multiple barriers affecting their access to healthcare. These include lack of a permanent address, poor working conditions, isolation, uncertain immigration status, exploitation, language difficulties, poverty and hunger. The Mobile Health Clinic will offer a new low-threshold free service that will support people to integrate into the mainstream healthcare system.

The Mobile Health Clinic takes the form of specially adapted vehicle, fully equipped with medical equipment and consumables, a private consultation room and a team of a volunteer doctor or nurse and two support workers.

It will be flexible and reactive depending on the need, meaning we can take our new Mobile Health Clinic to wherever these vulnerable people are based.There will also be an emphasis on follow-up, advocacy and ensuring any high-risk cases receive enhanced support.

Experience shows that providing services near to where people are located is the most effective way to engage with the most excluded. If we bring these vulnerable and hidden groups into mainstream healthcare, likely benefits include improved health, economic productivity and health system cost-savings

We expect the following outcomes as a result of the new Mobile Health Clinic service:

• Purchase and modification of a vehicle so that it is capable of delivering private consultations • Recruit a Mobile Clinic Lead who will manage a team of 30 volunteer doctors, nurses and support workers who will deliver consultations on a rota basis • Provide direct health consultations to at least 1,000 vulnerable people over the course of 12-months • Improved health outcomes and support more people into mainstream healthcare. We will measure key metrics such the improvement in health of services users and the number of successful General Practitioner registrations

Doctors of the World UK, part of the international Médecins du Monde network, believes in a world in which all vulnerable people receive healthcare whether they are affected by poverty, exclusion, war, natural disasters or disease.

We don’t do quick fixes. We run both UK, such as our Bethnal Green clinic, and international programmes that focus on long-term interventions that work closely with local communities. The projects are delivered by more than 3,000 dedicated volunteer doctors, nurses, pyschologists and support workers.

Our priorities are society’s last:

• Vulnerable refugees and migrants • Women and girls • People at risk of harm • Those affected by conflict and crisis

£100 – social media acknowledgement £1000 – letter of thanks from Executive Director £6,000 – annual report acknowledgement £20,000 – project visit £50,000 – acknowledgement on the clinic vehicle

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social media acknowledgement

letter of thanks from Executive Director

annual report acknowledgement

acknowledgement on the clinic vehicle