Pathway – Care For The Homeless

Pathway is the UK’s leading homeless healthcare charity. They believe that no one should be discharged from hospital & on to the street.

Integrated care operates within NHS services, bringing together teams of NHS, local authority and voluntary sector professionals to improve healthcare for homeless people. Each team includes a specialist GP, nurses, housing professionals and in some hospitals, Pathway Care Navigators: people who were once homeless who we train to support homeless patients. To read more from pathway click here

Their teams provide

• Housing and benefits advice
• Help to recover important documents such as birth certificates, passports etc
• Links to community services
• Support and collaboration with other clinicians e.g. advice on drug interactions, addictions, personality issues etc.
• Complex care planning and discharge liaison
• Referral for addictions support
• Help with GP registration
• Fresh clothes, shoes and other basics (for example where these have been destroyed because of infection/infestation)
• Help to reconnect with loved ones

They have teams in 11 hospitals, helping over 3000 patients every year, many of whom have complex combinations of physical illness, mental illness and substance misuse problems, and histories of trauma and abuse.

In some areas Pathway teams can access specialist ‘respite care’, a place for homeless patients to recover after they’ve been in hospital, with clinical support on hand, relieving pressure on hospital bedspaces.

Teams also provide a friendly smile, chance to chat, and everyday treats like a chocolate bar, hospital TV card or book. A small donation to the Dignity in Care Fund can really brighten someone’s day. Everything they do is to help homeless patients get life back onto a better ‘Pathway’.