- Children’s Asthma Clinic
- Paediatric Hub
- Women’s Health Hub
- Teledermatology Pilot
- Social Prescribing Link Workers
- Community Wellbeing Coach
- Mental Health Workers
We have been fortunate to have Consultant Nurse Dr Deborah Marriage run monthly winter children’s asthma clinics from Downton Road Surgery for the past two years. Children aged 5-18yrs who have poorly controlled asthma or are in need of diagnostic testing are eligible to be seen in the clinic and can be referred by a GP or other general practice clinician.
The Swift PCN Paediatric Hub launched in April 2024, in collaboration with the General Paediatrics Team at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
This is a 12-month project that aims to reduce the waiting time for children on the General Paediatric department waiting list by seeing them closer to home. The project also aims to increase the paediatric knowledge within staff in the Swift PCN practices.
Every month, a clinic takes place at Bedminster Family Practice, where appropriate patients are seen by a consultation paediatrician along with a clinical staff member from one of the PCN practices. We also run a monthly lunch and learn session, where clinicians meet for support and learning.
Privacy Notice
For those of you whose child is registered at a Swift PCN practice and currently on the waiting list for a general Paediatric appointment at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, GP practices within Swift PCN have teamed up with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust to create the Paediatric Hub, to help reduce wait times for paediatric care. If you are currently on the hospital wait list for a general Paediatric appointment, your child’s patient details will be shared to enable your GP practice to offer a clinic appointment with the Paediatric Hub, held at Bedminster Family Practice. Your contact details & child’s medical history (SCR) will be shared for the purpose of direct care. You are free to decline the appointment on behalf of your child, and we will make sure your place remains on the waiting list.
You may be contacted after your appointment for feedback on your experience as part of a patient satisfaction survey.
The Women’s Health Hub project launched with Swift in August 2024 and is expected to last up to a year. The project is in collaboration with the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB).
Swift PCN have decided to focus on improving the resilience in practices by training further staff to fit and remove Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC). Contraceptive implants and coils are examples of LARC. This will improve current waiting times.
The project will also work to improve menopause knowledge in staff and patients, while offering innovative group consultations. Our staff are to be trained by Group Consultations Ltd.
Swift PCN are working with University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, North Bristol Trust and Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance on the successful Teledermatology Pilot project in BNSSG.
The project report developed with BNSSG PCNs has demonstrated the project benefits for patients and systems across the board.
The project involves some practices within Swift PCN working as ‘hub’ sites, where a trained member of staff will take photographs of lesions with a specialised camera, to be sent to the hospital alongside the patient’s suspected skin cancer referral.
The aim of the project is to provide care closer to home with an 80% reduction in the number of urgent face-to-face assessment for cancer.
Social Prescribing Link Workers (also known as Social Prescribers) are employed across our 7 practices in partnership with Knowle West Health Park Company.
Your Social Prescribing Link Worker is there to listen to you and put you in touch with the people and activities that might help you to feel better.
Social Prescribing can help you to have more control over your own health and find ways to improve how you feel in a way that suits you.
For example, that might be connecting you to a community group to meet more people or an advice service to support you with your bills. You can self-refer into this service. Link for more information and the referral form – Social Prescribing Service – KWHLC
Swift PCN in partnership with Knowle West Health Park Company have employed Kathy Kingdon, our Community Wellbeing Coach for 24 hrs a week. Kathy can spend up to 6 sessions with an individual and will do home visits or meet people wherever is both accessible and feels safe for them.
Kathy works to find out about an individual’s physical and mental health, what barriers are stopping them getting more active, and what support would help keep them motivated. You can self-refer into Kathy’s service via your GP practice.
Swift PCN has partnered with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) to employ three Mental Health Workers that are based across all 7 of our practices.
There is no ‘formal’ referral into this service and practitioners sit within the general practice team. The mental health worker will carry out an initial assessment appointment and then will offer up to 3 follow up appointments.
They can work with you to build a plan around self-management and support onward referrals if necessary. Mental Health Workers can also offer brief psychological interventions. You can access this service via your GP practice.