Granton Information Centre (GIC) has extended their service at Muirhouse Medical Group. GIC’s Michelle Lee can now be found at the Muirhouse Avenue centre on Mondays and Tuesdays from 2 – 4pm.
GIC have provided an advice service in local GP surgeries for many years, and have had a presence in the Muirhouse surgery for almost two years. The extra hours at Muirhouse became possible when the Muirhouse practice was extended, and it’s a service that patients registered at Muirhouse are using in increasing numbers.
“There’s as much of a demand for the service as there has ever been – perhaps even more so”, said Michelle, who has been with GIC for eight years. “The advice service has been getting particularly busy on Tuesdays, and having the additional day here makes a great difference.”
Muirhouse Medical Centre’s Gillian Anderson said: “Michelle is very much a part of our team – she’s been added to our appointment systems and participates in our six-weekly staff team meetings. It’s great to have Michelle here in the practice to give advice – updating staff on changes to legislation and other issues that may affect GPs – to the comprehensive service she provides to the local people who are registered at this practice. There are a lot of questions on benefits and entitlements that we couldn’t give the answers to, so it’s very useful having Michelle here to explain complicated things in a way we can all understand.”
One patient who particularly appreciates GIC’s GP surgery service is Alan, who lives in Muirhouse. Alan, who suffers from depression, turned to Michelle for help when his mother – who was also his carer – suddenly died last Christmas.
“I didn’t have a clue what to do – my mum had always done everything and I really didn’t know where to turn or where to start. It took me a long time to get over the shock of losing my mum and things sort of drifted – I got into a mess and I didn’t have a clue how to sort things out. It affected my health, which was not that great anyway, and I was so lucky that my GP was able to offer GIC’s advice service, saying we’d be able to get things sorted.” At this point I had been refused Employment & Support Allowance due to failing a Work Capability assessment; I had a funeral to organise and to pay for and had accruing council tax arrears and I had no money coming in.”
He went on: “When I spoke to Michelle it was a weight off my mind – it was amazing just how much better I felt just being able to share things with somebody, because I really didn’t have anyone else to help me, no-one else to turn to. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Michelle was my lifeline – she has supported me all the way through. Things were a mess – far too complicated for me – but with Michelle’s help things are looking up now – it’s a whole lot brighter, when just a wee while ago everything seemed hopeless.”
Michelle said: “Alan suffers from severe depression, and when he found himself alone he found it impossible to cope with forms, bills and paperwork. He found himself with an outstanding funeral bill, no money coming in because his benefits had been stopped and there were various other complications. It was a set of circumstances that anyone would have found daunting – never mind someone who had recently lost their mother. Fortunately, we have been able to systematically deal with all of the issues Alan faced, and things that once seemed insurmountable have been resolved. It is not an easy process, but we’ve got there. Alan has started to get his life in order, and he’s feeling better and more positive as a result.”
Michelle explained to Alan that she would assist with appealing the Employment & Support Allowance decision and would also assist with making an application to British Gas Energy Trust for help with the outstanding balance for the funeral. Michelle also identified a possible entitlement to Disability Living Allowance.
The Employment & Support Allowance decision was overturned at the appeal stage and Alan was placed in the support group. His weekly income increased from absolutely nothing to £105.05 a week, and he also received an additional backdated payment of £681.00.
The British Gas Energy Trust application was also successful and Alan was awarded £1960.80 to clear the outstanding balance of his mother’s funeral costs.
The initial application for Disability Living Allowance was unsuccessful, but GIC successfully appealed the decision and this increased Alan’s weekly income by another £41.10 – in total Alan’s annual household income has increased by £7,599.80!
Alan’s life has been turned around. “I’m starting to get out and about a bit more, which is hard to believe,” he said. “I can honestly say that, without this service, I really don’t think I would have been here to tell you this story. Seriously, it was that bad but things are getting better. I can never thank Michelle enough for everything she’s done for me and I count myself so lucky that my GP told me about the advice service.”
Granton Information Centre’s GP Surgery service is also available at Crewe Medical Centre on Tuesday mornings between 10.00am and 1pm.
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