Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS

GP Dr Amit Bhargava has been involved in commissioning in Crawley, West Sussex for many years. Recent statistics (from NHS England in October 2017) show that Crawley has the lowest rate of emergency admissions in the country. In this episode Amit tells Ben about how Crawley has approached tackling health inequalities, the role for general practice and the partnerships they have developed with the local authority, the community and third sector providers. He goes on to describe the “social prescription offer” made to patients and how the community is beginning to focus on wellness.

Show Notes

Amit’s journey into commissioning (53secs)

Amit briefly describes Crawley (1min 10secs)

Beginning to tackle health inequalities (2min 20secs)

Working with local government: squash and curries (3mins 04secs)

The role for general practice (4mins 47secs)

Getting the community and the third sector providers engaged (5mins 37secs)

What does the “social prescription offer” look like now? (6mins 26secs)

How it works (7mins 49secs)

Isn’t this just more work for GPs? (9mins 03secs)

A focus on wellness rather than illness (11mins 13secs)

The science of wellness (12mins 39secs)

Managing the wellness of people the GP doesn’t see… (14mins 15secs)

Signposting to other information (14mins 53secs)

Where should other areas start? (15mins 50secs)