It marks one year since St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub opened in Havering, North East London (NEL), bringing hospital services into the heart of the community. The neighbourhood health hub offers patients a “one-stop-shop” where they can access multiple services in one visit, without needing to travel to hospital.  

The hub’s services are provided in partnership with Barking, Havering, Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT), North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), Barts Health NHS Trust and the local NHS North East London.

Services include an on-site GP practice, cardiology clinics, catheter clinics, community nurses and midwives, mental health services, dermatology clinics, Ageing Well Centre with falls and frailty services, diagnostic imaging, paediatric care and more. 

It demonstrates the Government’s “hospital to community” shift outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan, which sets out a long-term vision where every community will have access to a Neighbourhood Health Centre. 

Dr Agatha Nortley-Meshe, Regional Medical Director for Primary Care in NHS England London said: “St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub is a great example of the future of healthcare we are building across London. By bringing hospital services into neighbourhood settings, we are making care more accessible and convenient for patients whilst reducing pressure on hospitals.

 

“What we are seeing in Havering is a model that can be replicated in communities throughout the capital. Having a range of services under one roof represents exactly the kind of patient-centred approach outlined in the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan.” 

Dr Amara Bello, Primary Care Development Lead (NHS North East London), said: “We have an ethos at the Hub about being integrated and taking the patient out of the hospital and into the community, it’s like a one-stop-shop where patients can have multiple appointments in one go, for example they can have a blood test, CT scan and an MRI. We have a wealth of information and lots of healthcare providers to support them on their patient journey.” 

A patient at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub said: “I used to have to travel much further for a blood test, so it’s much more convenient having this service right by my front door. It saves me going to the hospital and means I can easily fit it into my everyday life.” 

Residents visit the Hub even when they do not have appointments, utilising the sensory, dementia-friendly communal gardens which is home to the Spring Community Café. It hosts social activities on weekends and evenings, including wellbeing exercises of pilates and yoga. The Hub serves as a blueprint for neighbourhoods and demonstrates how to successfully move and expand services in a community setting. 

Stephen Ezema, a Sonographer at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub, said: “A lot of people have hospital anxieties and find just going to hospital generally not the most convenient. Therefore, in bringing these services into the community and closer to home it helps, especially for older people in this community and even for us who are working here, as it gives balance.”

John O’Moore, GP at St George’s Country Park Surgery, at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub said: “In our practice at the Hub we have developed cooperation with the imaging department, which offers CT, MRI and ultrasound scanning.  

 

“We now have a direct referral system so that I can refer patients directly to those services, which shortens the time that the patients have to wait and also means that we get the results more quickly, for example we have same day X-Ray results and patients can be given appropriate advice from our on-site physiotherapist, meaning they don’t have to go through the local A&E department.” 

The NHS recognises that health and wellbeing is shaped as much by housing, employment, education, and community, as by medicine. By strengthening connections between the NHS and public services in London, and making it easier to access non-clinical support, the neighbourhood health service will also help tackle the broader causes of ill-health.   

Sophie Banks, a Community Nurse at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub said: “If the patient is not required to stay in the hospital, being treated at home can be best for the patient’s care, which is paramount. 

“As a community nurse I can deliver a range of services that we would in a hospital, such as wound care, palliative care, administering antibiotics, post-surgery care, all from the comfort of the patient’s home.” 

Gill, a volunteer at St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub said: “It’s rewarding to have been a volunteer at the Hub since it opened, it feels great to meet and help different people, I feel that I’m giving something back to the community.

“It’s lovely when you see somebody come in regularly with a certain condition, and then you see their health improve and they walk out of the door and they do not need to come back. It’s great to know it’s been a real success for that person.” 

For more information on the shift from hospital to community healthcare, read the full 10 Year Health Plan here.