A reception to mark Granton Information Centre’s pioneering work in establishing advice provision in healthcare settings was held at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
Granton Information Centre first launched the service at Muirhouse Medical Group and Crewe Medical Centre in 2002 and it is now established not only across Edinburgh but has been replicated in other parts of the country too.
The event was hosted by Edinburgh Pentlands MSP Gordon MacDonald (above) and among the guests were local MSP and now government minister Ben Macpherson and Emma Harper MSP, deputy convener of Holyrood’s Health and Sport Committee.
Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing Joe Fitzpatrick said: “These partnerships are an important step in addressing some of the most challenging issues currently facing us after a decade of austerity and welfare benefit reform.
“The Scottish Government is doing what we can to mitigate the worst impacts of poverty: we have recently introduced a Fairer Scotland Action Plan and Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. We have also established a social security system guided by the principles of dignity, fairness and respect.
“Poverty is deeply damaging. The best route out of poverty is to improve people’s incomes, so income maximisation initiatives and advice to ensure that they are claiming all the benefits they are entitled to is vitally important. I’m aware that the evidence is already there that providing advice in settings where people are comfortable, or where they are already receiving support for other issues, can be very effective.
“An example of collaboration and co-operation across organisations, welfare advice and health partnerships are a welcome addition to a range of actions to help some of our most vulnerable citizens and I am really happy to add my support.”
Embedding welfare rights advisors in healthcare settings enables patients to receive advice on social welfare and financial problems. Health professionals can directly refer patients to the advisor, who – only with a patient’s consent – has access to medical records. Appropriate information can then be used as supporting evidence for welfare claims. It’s estimated that £39 is generated in social and economic benefits for every £1 invested.
Granton Information Centre Advice Service Manager Michelle Lee explained said the service brings benefits to all parties involved: “GPs spend less time writing reports, freeing them up to concentrate more on patient care.
“For advisers, being based in medical centres can cut down work. Some cases can be resolved at an earlier stage as we can address issues before they become critical.
“And for clients, the benefit is that we are there when they need us, at a place that is suitable to them. Having someone available to discuss money worries or resolve other issues can be a great relief to clients and there’s a lot of evidence that good advice services can improve a person’s health and wellbeing.”
Dr John Budd is a GP at the Edinburgh Access Practice, where he works with people experiencing homelessness. He’s also a member of the Deep End GP Group, representing 100 GP practices in Scotland’s most deprived communities.
Dr. Budd said: “Around six years ago we became increasingly aware of the crippling nature of the welfare changes being introduced by the Westminster government. We produced a report about people’s experience of welfare change which received national media attention.
“What came out if that was a real sense of hopelessness – we felt our patients, often vulnerable, were increasingly being defeated by a system that was supposed to be there to help them. GPs felt helpless: patients were coming to see them with issues they couldn’t address. Poverty, increasing levels of homelessness, complex benefits issues – they couldn’t do the job they were trained to do.
“However the embedding of welfare rights workers into this bleak landscape has been such a bright spot. As members of our primary care team they have made such a fantastic difference, enabling people to navigate through the incredibly complex benefits system.
“Michelle was with us at the Access Practice for four years, and she generated around £800,000 a year extra in due benefits – around £1000 per patient, which can make a huge difference to people who are often destitute.
“It’s been a fantastic development: it’s tragic that we still need this service, but it’s been a great benefit to our patients and we are so fortunate to have it. It’s a hugely effective way of enabling people to gain greater control of their lives through addressing poverty.”
Craig Mason is Senior Manager of Council Advice Services at Dundee City Council. He said the service, first rolled out in January 2015, is proving to be a real success.
“We investigated the model that Granton Information Centre had set up and it became apparent that it would have benefits for our patients, our service and, as it turned out, to the GPs.
“We deal with 10, 000 – 15,000 inquiries every year and 74% of our caseload were in receipt of either a sickness or a disability benefit. So having access to medical records is incredibly important – it helps to drive the efficiency of the process. People can get decisions quickly.
“The service is now operating in seven surgeries and it’s been a success from day one – it’s been a massive benefit. It works, and it’s something we’re very proud of in Dundee.”
NHS Health Scotland’s Child Poverty lead Kerry McKenzie (above) said: “One in four children – 230,000 children – live in poverty in Scotland. Seven in ten of those children have at least one parent working, so the rise of in-work poverty is a real concern.
“The impact of welfare reform is disproportionately affecting families with children, particularly single parent families who are being hit the hardest by tax and benefit changes now and in the near future.
“The development of welfare advice and health partnerships are proving to be really effective and are an absolutely essential part of the care our children, their families and our pregnant women are receiving in Scotland. The vital ingredient is the simple referral pathway to a money advice worker.”
She said leadership was required at all levels to make the service work. Funding, too, is precarious.
“It’s a night to celebrate to what we have developed so far, but more needs to be done to ensure that services we have here in Edinburgh can be scaled up across the whole of the country. So let’s keep on keeping on.”
Roddy Samson worked with Granton Information Centre for over twenty years and is now Welfare Advice Service Facilitator at Improvement Service. He said: “There is a substantial body of evidence which shows the positive impact of embedding welfare rights advisors in GP practices and midwifery services. I have seen it first hand the benefits it can bring: it really, really does work.
“The approach contributes to reducing child poverty, to help health and social care integration, maximises household income and tackling health inequalities.
“Moving forward, Improvement Service has received funding from the Scottish Government to work with eight local authorities and health boards to support help councils and their partners who wish to refocus the way they deliver advice services, moving away from traditional welfare rights provision towards welfare advice and health partnerships.”
Granton Information Centre is a voluntary organisation and the GIC board was well-represented at the reception. Board member Billy Fitzpatrick thanked the event organisers and said: “Granton Information Centre has been supporting vulnerable people from North Edinburgh since 1984 and the service is needed as much today as it ever was, maybe even more so. It is great to see our own local community organisation being recognised in this way.”
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