Best Practice – Lauren Park’s Blog
On 11th October 2023, I attended the Best Practice Conference in Birmingham to present an NHS Health Check Case Study- titled “Supporting the restart of NHS Health Checks following Covid-19: A case study. I was joined by Jim Barwick (Leeds GP Confederation, CEO), Julie Beer, (Leeds GP Confederation, Lead Nurse), and Hanna Kaye (Public Health, Leeds City Council, Advanced Health Improvement Specialist) as co-presenters.
Together we presented in the Primary Care Network (PCN) Transformation Theatre, our experience of delivering two NHS Health Check pilots. The first part of the presentation discussed a ‘restart’ pilot which aimed to support Leeds GP Practices in reducing the backlog of patients waiting for an NHS Health Check using a 3rd Party Provider following decreased activity during COVID-19.
The second part of the presentation was a case study from a partnership programme delivered by Leeds Community Healthcare. The programme had two aims; to restart the delivery of NHS Health Checks following COVID-19, and to support Student Nurses find Primary Care work placements.
Whilst the presentation was focused on NHS Health Checks, there was a lot of wider learning we hoped the audience would be interested in. The three key learning outcomes we identified included, top tips for working with a 3rd Party Provider, benefits of partnership working and practice considerations for delivering clinical services within community settings.
The presentation was well received with around 8 people asking questions as part of the Q&A session. People were interested in the use of digital technology, how barriers were identified and addressed, and the reliability of point of care testing for the diagnoses of diabetes.
It was a great opportunity to co-present with Hanna Kaye (Public Health, Leeds City Council) as it showed the value of partnership working in action. It was a valuable opportunity to take the time and to reflect on what we have learnt to date, to ensure that NHS Health Checks are delivered innovatively and effectively to Leeds patients.
Lauren Park, Business and Operations Manager