Traveller Health Worker Annual Report
by Nickie Anthony
I started in March 08 as a Traveller Health Worker and spent lots of time trying to gain the trust of the local Gypsy and Traveller community and trying to identify their health needs.
Having taken over the role from my predecessor I took time to evaluate the previous work and researched the Passport to Health document that had been created. It was designed as a document that Gypsy and Traveller families could carry round from place to place, with a comprehensive record of their medical history and any previous treatment and or medication. Through my research both via the internet and talking to Travellers, I have learned that:
- Most Travellers are far less transient than they once were, therefore they don’t feel a great need for Passport to Health
- Most Gypsy and Travellers don’t like the Passport to Health document due to it identifying them as a Traveller and encouraging discrimination
- There are around ten different versions of the same type of document throughout the country, one of which is currently being used in 4 areas on a trail basis to go live nationally
- This type of information can be open to abuse with people accessing medication with the help of the Passport
- The Passport To Health document is not recognised outside of the Newark and Sherwood area therefore it is rendered useless once the Traveller moves, which defeats the object of the document
In conclusion we need to be looking at a national programme for the Travelling community and their access to health. This research led me to the Pacesetter’s programme and areas of best practice with Gypsy and Travelling communities. I have spent valuable time contacting areas of good practice and getting advice on the best way forward to provide a comprehensive health service that will enable Travellers to access the facilities.
The main reasons Travellers do not access health care relate to discrimination and the systems we use to provide such services.
- Most Travellers do not feel accepted in society and there is still widespread prejudice and misperceptions about this community making it difficult for Travellers to access services
- Appointment systems are difficult to access via a mobile telephone and require forward planning when a Travelling family may have pulled off before appointment arrives
- Travellers tend to work with the weather rather than a diary so may forget appointments
- Many Travellers have poor literacy therefore filling forms in or signing in at a surgery may be difficult
- Due to a Travellers culture it is not appropriate to discuss personel issues with a person of the opposite sex
My findings from all of this work led me to realise that the biggest issue regarding tackling health inequalities had to start with community cohesion and discrimination. Helping society to understand the Gypsy and Traveller community, dispelling common myths and misconceptions and challenging discrimination will make the biggest difference to the health of Gypsy and Travellers and their access to services.
As a result of this initial work I have become involved in lots of multi agency working in order to improve access to services for Gypsy and Travellers and improve other services knowledge of their culture and their cultural needs. Some of the services I have been working with include:
- Local Children’s Centre’s
- Adult Education
- Local Primary and Secondary Schools
- Doctors
- Dentists
- Energy Efficiency Agency
- The Fire Service
- The Police force
- Home Help
- Meals on Wheels
- Adult Health and Social Care
- The Oral Health Team
- The Local midwife and Health Visitor
- Newark Mind
- Balderton Day Centre
- Day Carers
- Healthy Lifestyles Officer
- Keith Girling Councillor
- Home Education
- New Leaf
- Lincoln College/ Dukeries College
- Newark and Sherwood Homes
- PCT Kate Russel and Amy Connel
- Social Fund
- The Health Alliance
- Health Visitors
I have offered basic training to services providers and have taken them along to initial visits to members of the Gypsy and Traveller community. Lots of these services have worked with Travellers on the last year and some of the staff now has a better understanding of the culture rather than believing the many myths attached to this culture.
I also work closely with other services that work with Travellers such as:
- Traveller Education
- RCAN Travelling Together Project and Floating support
- The Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer for Nottinghamshire
- Vicky Botton form ENTA
- Central Nottingham G and T workers
- Leicestershire G and T workers looking at best practice
- Bassetlaw District Nurse
- The Pacesetters Programme Countrywide
I have organised (or helped organise) the following events
- Training packages for local service providers re G and T culture
- G and T Heritage event at Millgate Museum
- River cruise for the G and T Elders
- Trip to Skegness for the Elders of the G and T community
- Christmas social meal
- HEAl Event, Health event for Newark
- New Leaf clinic on Tolney Lane
- HPV cervical cancer workshop for parents of 10- 12 year old girls
- Fun days
- Weight Management course
- Eco Village Project
- June 08 celebration of Traveller culture
- Budget advice for Travellers
- Delivery of medication for housebound Travellers
- Parent and Toddler groups on Tolney Lane
- Health related presentations to G and T
- Social occasions for G and T Elders
- Funding to repair and service heaters for G and T community ( the On Fire Fund £2’000)
- Social worker appointments for Travellers in need of support
- Equipment repair/delivery for elderly or disabled Travellers
- Basic Skills course and Digital Photography
- Home Education for 11 year old girls
I have also attending some Gypsy and Traveller training myself as well accessing some health training to enable me to provide a better service to the Gypsy and Traveller Community.
The major health issues at present are their living conditions and societies view of Gypsies and Travellers as a culture. Training is needed to help people understand their culture rather than believe the myths that are so prevalent in our society. As a community G and T experience high levels of prejudice and it appears to be ‘ one of the last bastions of prejudice’ in society today. This is something we need to change for the health and wellbeing of this culture.
There is a huge amount of work to be done and I am at present organising a conference for service providers in order to break down barriers about Travellers and their culture. The most basic needs are not provided for and this needs to change.
- Accessing the most basic services (plumbers, electricians, Taxi’s etc) is extremely difficult for Travellers and this has a huge effect on Traveller health and outlook
- Gypsies and Travellers are a very isolated group that get very little support from the rest of society
- Travellers live in appalling conditions on Tolney Lane without basic facilities such as decent toilet and showers, hot water and safe electricity supplies. They pay high premium electric and LPG gas making the cost of living extortionate
- Lots of Travellers are registered with doctors but only attend when very ill
- Travellers are still very wary about inoculating their children
Annual Review 2009
by Nickie Anthony
The aim to this post is to improve the health outcomes for Gypsy and Traveller families within Newark and Sherwood. At present I am involved with research to discover the health needs of housed Travellers within the Newark and Sherwood community in order to discover how best to meet these needs.
Due to the obvious need of some housed Travellers in the Newark and Sherwood I am temporarily covering housed Travellers in the area, while a research project on behalf of PCT takes place to prove the need of housed Travellers. When this work is complete there will be a review of the need and my remit. As part of this research I am completing questionnaires with housed Travellers about their health needs.
Having secured £2,000 funding from the Choosing Health funds I am organizing an annual event targeting those service providers, which historically haven't engaged with the Gypsy and Traveller communities. The event will be held on the 1st of October at Rufford Park and there will be speakers from all Gypsy and Traveller backgrounds talking about various topics such as health, the loss of stopping places and the loss of their cultural identity, which will be followed by speed dating event where delegates can discuss set topics with members of the Travelling community. The aim of the event is to break down barriers and dispel myths around the Travelling community. This event has been hugely oversubscribed therefore the funding will go towards repeating the event and then doing some in house training to those services which were unable to attend.
Along with other members I am part of the steering group, which successfully bid for £19,000 funding in order to reduce Race Hate Crime towards Gypsy and Traveller communities. The money will used to produce a DVD around race hate crime, how to report it, what should happen when it is reported and the obligation of the community to treat all people fairly, regardless of race and culture and the legal implications if this doesn’t happen. The rest of the money will be used to do training within workplaces around the culture of Gypsies and Travellers with members of the community being part of the training team.
I have received £2,000 funding from the “On Fire Fund” and serviced 25 trailer heaters .Due to the success of the project I have secured a further £2,000 funding from the "On Fire Funding " in order to service another 25 trailer heaters ensuring the families remain safe before the cold weather sets in. Another trip is being planned for the elders taking them once again to Skegness after the success of last year’s event.
I have met up with various Traveller Health workers around the country in order to learn from other areas best practise.
I attend a Gypsy and Traveller’s service providers meeting in order to work together and support each other to provide an efficient service for the Gypsy and Traveller community.
Although Newark and Sherwood didn’t get funded for the Pacesetters Trusts Programme this year, we are still in talks to be taken on by the project in March 2010 and be funded for a project where people from the Gypsy and Traveller community take part in training events with local businesses talking about their culture and lifestyle. This is something that has been proven to be the most effective form of training and breaking down barriers, using people from the community, real people with real voices. The Pacesetters is a partnership between local communities who experience health inequalities, the NHS and Department of Health, working on a national level to improve outcomes for the health status of Gypsies and Travellers.
I attended the East Midlands Gypsy and Traveller Forum and helped organize an event celebrating Traveller culture during Gypsy Roma month taking place on the 29th of June 2009.
I attended the National Conference for Gypsy and Travellers in London and highlighted the plight of Gypsy and Travellers with nowhere to stay and poor health in Nottinghamshire, with as yet no land becoming available.
We are still carrying out home safety checks as well as handing out the new “Fire Safety for Gypsy and Travellers” leaflets to all families pulling onto land in Newark and Sherwood.
Services that are now working on Tolney Lane on a regular basis are meals on wheels, community care teams, lifeline, New Leaf, social services, as well as other services such as wheelie bin cleaners, dry cleaners and handymen that have only recently started servicing Tolney Lane.
After the summer I will be running a 12 week Weight Management Course from the porta cabin having successfully completed the training course. I have members of the community already signed up to the programme.
Having completed Access to Health and Social Care questionnaires with the over 50’s, I am now taking 2 elderly Traveller’s to speak at the ‘Older Person’s Workshop’ regarding Access To Healthcare on the 22nd of September 09.
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