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Posted on 5 Sep 2024

We are delighted that the Nottingham City Placed Based Partnership has been shortlisted for a HSJ Award. This is for the work on improving health outcomes for people who are experiencing severe multiple disadvantage (SMD). SMD is co-occurring experiences of homelessness, problematic substance use, mental-ill health, domestic and sexual violence and/or abuse, and offending. The Trust has been integral to this partnership and the work we have been doing to engage people who experience SMD. Our innovative approach to improving health outcomes of people experiencing SMD has been named on the shortlist for the ‘Place-based Partnership & Integrated Care Award’ at this year’s event.

People who experience SMD are amongst the most vulnerable people in our population in their exposure to chronic health problems, shortened healthy life expectancy and premature death.

They face significant barriers to accessing healthcare (e.g. due to exclusions, inflexible appointments, fear and mistrust) and lack of alignment with the other help they need to improve their lives (e.g. housing and substance use treatment). This leads to poor experiences and outcomes for vulnerable people,system pressures caused by long-term and repeated use of intensive and emergency services, and additional demands on colleagues and staff working to keep up engagement and attend to wider challenges beyond their control.

People experiencing SMD often have more than one long term physical health condition. Many could be treated or managed through engagement with primary care, but without support, people experiencing SMD often do not seek the help they need. Conditions go untreated, often leading to avoidable deterioration in mental and physical health and an increase in hospitalisations and premature mortality. 

Because services are predominantly set up to focus on specific disease or issues, this unintentionally segments the responsibilities for the care of people experiencing SMD across multiple organisations. Our partnership model brings together the key partners to work around people’s needs, not the other way around; and by working together, we can realise better outcomes for people and help to manage the stresses that we feel across our system.The Trust is proud to be a part of this partnership.