The Alliance, which is supported by the Friends of Emsworth Community Health, is a forum for groups concerned with health and wellbeing in Emsworth and Westbourne, to meet, share concerns and work together. At our quarterly meeting in May we received two pieces of good news.

The first was that Citizens Advice Havant will be starting to hold drop-in sessions twice a month in Emsworth. They will be at the Baptist Church on the first and third Thursday of every month from 10 am to 2 pm. They give free, impartial and confidential advice on a wide range of issues, including benefits, money and debt, and housing. Their base is in the Meridian Centre in Havant, and we have been concerned that some people may have had difficulty getting there. These sessions in Emsworth will make their services more accessible, and we hope that many people will use them.

At our last meeting three months ago, we were told that the Primary Care Network were terminating the contract that they had with the You Trust to provide and support two Social Prescribers, due to financial pressures. Annemarie McMurtry-Irvine, worked with older people, and Adam Krum supported children and their families, as well as the schools. At our May meeting we were told that Annemarie would be continuing to work with the Emsworth Medical Practice, but that Adam would no longer be working in Emsworth.

One shared concern has been the support for children with special educational needs and those with mental health and behavioural problems. This is a large problem area which puts pressure on parents and schools and we are continuing to look for ways to develop more support. We have also been concerned to develop support for people with dementia,  and their carers, and there is now another group, Dementia Friendly Emsworth working on this.

There are now a number of regular activities in Emsworth open to all. We are also working with DF Havant Borough to open a 'Meeting Centre' which will be a hub to which newly diagnosed patients will be referred, and which will have the expertise to start them on their journey. We also want to develop a Dementia Roadmap which aims to collect information about services and make it available to the public and to GPs. The Alliance would welcome any other groups who would like to be involved, and suggestions of any health and wellbeing issues that we should be tackling.

Dr Theo Schofield OBE
Published in The EMS Summer Edition 2024