Liverpool Community Collaborative: Make a Difference Trust enables the creation of an innovative partnership project in Liverpool.
The Make a Difference Trust has contributed to the funding of an incredibly exciting new project to take collaboration between specialist HIV community nurses and the voluntary sector to a new level. In times of intense pressure on resources this is a new way of working that prioritises the most at risk clients and tailors services to their needs, to help them on the road to a better life with HIV.
The collaborative approach will see specialist nurses and support workers teaming up to deliver services to people in their homes or community settings. It will particularly target those people who fall off the radar of hospital based clinics. Homeless people, those with problematic drug use and those unable to attend clinic for other reasons, such as severe mental health issues, face many more challenges managing their HIV and general health, when compared with peers. The funding from Make a Difference Trust will help the partnership understand their individual needs and take practical steps to make life better from people from these groups.
Sahir House has been providing information and support for people living with HIV in Merseyside and North Cheshire for over 30 years. This year the charity has been shortlisted for a GlaxoSmithKlein Impact Award. The Liverpool HIV Community Nursing Team has been in existence for a similar length of time and has recently been shortlisted for (won?) a Care Innovation Award.
Pauline Jelliman, Clinical/Operational service lead for the HIV Community Nursing Team said: “Both NHS specialist HIV community nursing service and Sahir House work with some of the most hard to reach, under served communities in Liverpool. We have always worked closely but to formalize this arrangement will undoubtedly enhance the engagement care and support of people living with HIV in Liverpool by delivering care closer to home. Additionally, productivity and effectiveness will be enhanced by preventing duplication and pooling knowledge skills and expertise. The value of home visits should never be underestimated when that is the option chosen by the client, especially when other options just won’t work for them.”
Tommy McIlravey, CEO, Sahir House added: “ These are really tough times and while we have to continually make our case for funding for the holistic needs of all people living with HIV, we also have a responsibility to expend limited resources where they will have the greatest impact. We believe that taking a crucial mix of services to the most excluded clients will have a significant impact.”
The project will also develop a new tool to track barriers to accessing traditional services and the most effective routes to overcoming these.
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