Date published: 14 November 2024
On Wednesday 13 November 2024 the Primary Care Services North Cumbria Team were invited to attend the Eden Primary Care Network (PCN) networking & learning event as part of the North Cumbria PLT (Protected Learning Time) for practice teams both clinical & non clinical.
It was a day that really showcased to the staff some of the brilliant services available to patients locally and even included a brief FIT4ALL taster session - which brought a great energy to the event and explained/showed the benefits for patients and staff. Other services included: PCN Physio teams, Frailty team, Integrated Community Ageing Team (iCAT) Team, Barnardo's Link Service, Better (Westmorland and Furness), Health and Wellbeing team, Growing Well Team, Christians Against Poverty, Alzheimer’s Society and others.
The Primary Care Services North Cumbria team also raised awareness around early cancer diagnosis and the importance of self checking. & also discussed the #peoplepromise around work and wellbeing, highlighting available resources to the practice teams.
Sam Gargett, Project Manager for Primary Care Services North Cumbria said: "It was fantastic to be invited to attend Eden Primary Care Network's (PCN) really important networking event, which was part of their protected learning time. This was to introduce all the teams across Eden to the fantastic range of services that are available for our patients.
"We've got the whole team here today so we can discuss the range of services from Primary Care Services North Cumbria. It was especially fabulous to see the team from FIT4ALL doing a brilliant energiser at the start of the session. This was really important actually because it was a hands on experience for staff so they're able to see exactly what the benefits are, for our patients when they're talking to them."
Rhiannon Douglas from FIT4ALL said: "Just creating that joy in finding movement, it's not a strict exercise class and there's two of us so we can adapt the exercises to make sure it's suitable for everybody, regardless of age, health, medical conditions. We're just here to help you have a bit of fun and move a bit more."
Roo Bannister from FIT4ALL explained: "It's a fitness community, rather than service, we pitch out to all the rural communities in Eden and we have indoor classes, outdoor classes, poolside classes and online classes. It's a collaboration between Westmorland and Furness Council and the NHS."
Rhiannon continued: "It's really about building that holistic environment around health, it's not just about the exercises that we provide, it's also about the social environment and community spirit, which is why we go out to these different communities."
Rachael Somerville, Operations Lead - Eden Primary Care Network said: "It's really important that the staff see what's available within the Eden Community, because they're also patients as well and we forget sometimes to inform our patients of what we've got, where we can signpost and navigate them. However, we need to remember for ourselves that when we are patients we also have access to these services and facilities.
"We've got lots of living well services, social prescribing, Growing Well - there's lots of things that people can tap into that doesn't cost anything, it's all about trying to help and support both patients and the staff for their mental health and wellbeing."
Kirsty Jay, People Promise Manager, Primary Care Services North Cumbria explained: "The People Promise is a programme that's being funded by NHS England, it's a one year project. The ultimate aim of the programme is to retain our staff and it is built up from staff feedback. Staff working across the NHS have told NHS England what matters to them at work. So my role here is just to work with practices to embed some ideas, some projects into practices to hopefully enhance staff's working experience."
Dr Dominic Arnold, GP and Eden Primary Care Network Clinical Director said: "It's getting us all in the same room, building those communications, relationships to make it easier to deliver joined up, efficient, effective patient care. But also makes everyone aware of all the services that are out there for everybody."
