#HWL19 - Making a difference - Gypsy Traveller community
Healthwatch Lincolnshire facilitate quarterly yourvoice@HWL events. These events are open to the general public as well as other health and care stakeholders including provider and commissioner healthcare organisations.
Yourvoice@HWL events are themed around a specific health or care focus to allow everyone who attends a chance to learn more about and contribute their experiences to that theme.
In the autumn of 2018, we held a yourvoice@HWL event in Spalding, which is a small market town based in South Lincolnshire. At this event we invited a group of gypsy travellers from Gainsborough who we have been working with to come along. It is worth noting that Spalding is over 140 mile round trip from Gainsborough, so we recognised that coming along to yourvoice@HWL was a big commitment from them.
The work our Engagement Officer has been doing with this group; identified a number of health issues that the Gypsy Traveller community, and especially the women from this community, were experiencing with healthcare services.
During the meeting the group had an opportunity to raise their health issues and after the event we were able to facilitate the following positive actions:
- Lincolnshire Partnership Mental Health Foundation Trust (LPFT) has delivered a Mental Health First Aid awareness course to one of the gypsy traveller communities in Lincolnshire. To support the group LPFT adapted the course so it could be delivered at one of the gypsy traveller centres as a half day accredited course.
- Lincolnshire Community Health Service have worked with the Gypsy Traveller Well Women group with regards to sexual health awareness. As a result 6 of the women from the group have already received their first ever cervical smear and breast screening.
- Following the above, a small number of women have received professional support to enable them to provide peer support for other women. They then used these skills in 4 gypsy traveller sites across Lincolnshire.
Feedback received by the Director Lincolnshire Traveller Initiative (LTI)
I am very pleased to share with you feedback about the work and support that Healthwatch Lincolnshire has given to Lincolnshire Traveller initiative through the work of Oonagh Quinn, Healthwatch Lincolnshire’s Engagement Officer. Her work, in a relatively short time, has had, and will continue to have, a huge positive impact on the Gypsy and Traveller Communities of Lincolnshire.
Oonagh has advised and supported LTI's Well Woman Groups in Gainsborough which has had immediate positive outcomes for Traveller women. Kirsty Mathers from LTI is so grateful for the support and guidance that she has received from Oonagh. She introduced the idea of mental health first aid training for the Travellers and then facilitated the link between LPFT and the Well Woman Group which resulted in LPFT sponsoring the Mental Health First Aid Training. Following on from this, she has made links with the LCHS Sexual Health Team and potential links with the community teams for Immunisations and Dental services. She is currently helping LTI to produce a health directory which will be going into every home on every Traveller site in Lincolnshire. HWL and Oonagh are a mine of information on all matters 'Health' and make invaluable links on our behalf. We certainly hope this partnership continues.
We are truly grateful for her efforts and professionalism.
Paul Boucher
Director LTI
