Gypsy/Travellers action plan: 2023

Improving health outcomes

Information on rights and entitlements

Producing clear, accessible, and appropriate information on rights and entitlements and how to access them (for example on Patient Rights).

June – September 2023 focus

A range of work continues to be taken forward in relation to this action. 

Facebook page and other sources of information 

Managed by Article 12, the Facebook page continues to share important public health messaging with the community. 

Relevant information will continue to be shared in a number of other ways, including articles and newsletters in publications such as the Barrie News and the Travellers Times. 

Information on available health and care services 

Work is being progressed, in partnership with local authorities, to develop a leaflet highlighting local NHS services for those staying in unauthorised G/T encampments. This will be informed by findings from the evaluation of the Negotiated Stopping places pilot being led by PHS.

Scottish guide to health and care services 

Work is also being progressed to develop a Scottish version of guidance (similar guidance has previously been published in England) that will act as a guide to health and care services for the G/T community. Publication is expected in late March ’23. 

Inclusive public health messaging 

The project, jointly funded by SG & PHS and led by MECOPP, will focus on improving public health messaging for minority ethnic groups, with a specific focus on the G/T community. 

A lead for the project has been recruited and commenced their role in Dec ’22. 

NHS Scotland Gypsy/Traveller Steering Group 

PHS established a senior Steering Group in mid-2022, chaired by North Lanarkshire Director of Public Health Josephine Pravinkumar. The Group will bring together senior officers from a range of agencies to: 

• provide a point of escalation for any significant issues raised by Scottish Gypsy/Travellers, including cross-organisational challenges, and addressing blockages and barriers to accessing NHS services or care in Scotland
• support the development, implementation, and long-term sustainability of the Community Health Matters service, ensuring its learning and challenges are shared across NHS Scotland
• consider the priorities, opportunities, and challenges in the implementation of the Scottish Gypsy Traveller Health and Social Care Work Plan 2022/23, a sub-section of the Scottish Action Plan for Improving the Lives of Scottish Gypsy/Travellers

Training public sector staff

Providing good quality training and advice to frontline public sector staff, on how to support Gypsy/Travellers to access services fairly (for example working with NHS Scotland and Health and Social Care Partnerships to address specific health and social care needs, with solutions co-produced with Gypsy/Traveller communities).

June – September 2023 focus

NHS /HSCP G/T Forum 

THE NHS/HSCP Gypsy Traveller Forum continues to meet regularly and to share information on best practice, ongoing work and arising issues of concern. Feb 2023 meeting focused on mental health. 

Agreement to develop simple directory of mental health resources. 

Recruiting from the community

Recruiting and supporting Community Health Workers from Gypsy/Traveller communities, to provide health advocacy on a wide range of health and social care issues, learning from good practice in other countries.

June – September 2023 focus

The interim evaluation of the community health worker programme was completed in August 2022. It demonstrates successful early implementation of the Community Health Worker service. 

Three additional CHWs were recruited by MECOPP in late 2022, taking the total number to 7 CHWs. The work undertaken by the CHWs and the wider MECOPP Community Health Matters Programme has continued to receive positive feedback and deliver significant support to the community. 

Scottish Government has now confirmed a final year of funding that will enable the service to continue for the remainder of the current financial year (2023-24).

This additional funding guarantees continuity of provision in 2023-34 as plans for mainstreaming improvements from 2024-25 onwards are made, recognising the clear need for improved services within the Gypsy/Traveller community given the specific barriers and challenges they continue to face in accessing health and other vital services.

The NHS Scotland Gypsy/Traveller Steering Group has established a short life working group which will consider how best to embed learning and best practice in Health Board core service provision, and identify the most appropriate model going forward to ensure improved access to and experience of healthcare for the Gypsy/Traveller community. Officials from Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland are actively supporting this work.

Supporting community pharmacists

Supporting community pharmacists to use health literacy tools and techniques, developed as part of the Health Literacy Plan for Scotland (2017-2025) and Primary Care Transformation.

June – September 2023 focus

The Scottish Health Literacy Action Group continue to promote relevant e-learning modules to pharmacists. 

Work is ongoing to raise awareness of Pharmacy First amongst the G/T community, explaining what services community pharmacists can offer the community. 

A workshop was held in Oct ‘22 with community health workers, SG officials and relevant NHS staff about pharmacy first. This enabled those developing and implementing pharmacy first to identify the barriers the community face in accessing pharmacy first services. 

Solutions to overcoming these barriers were discussed and included working with the community to develop and disseminate a pharmacy first booklet.  

Improving mental well-being

Working with Gypsy/Traveller communities to identify what information and support they feel they trust and need to improve their mental health and well-being, as part of the Mental Health Strategy in Scotland (2017-2027) and the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan – ‘Mental Health - Scotland's Transition and Recovery.   

June – September 2023 focus

Two specific SG funded projects continue to be progressed: 

Mental Health Matters 

Led by MECOPP, the project will pilot specific mental health and wellbeing support to the Gypsy/Traveller community. Two part time mental health posts (a team leader and family support worker) were appointed in June 2022 and, alongside the existing post of mental health and welling worker (adults and older people), were incorporated to form the MECOPP Mental Health Matters Team.

Progress in Dialogue

Progress in Dialogue aims to tackle hate crime, stigma and discrimination experienced by Gypsy/Travellers, via social media and mainstream media, which has such a detrimental impact on the community’s mental health and well-being. Specific work/progress has included: 

• training and awareness sessions have been offered to a number of organisations including the TENET education network; Scottish Government Race Equality team; STV news; BBC news
• work to plan awareness raising sessions with Secondary schools and Local authority teams in areas with large Gypsy/Traveller demographics

Community health workers 

Issues related to mental health are amongst those most frequently being highlighted as a concern by the CHWs. As such their roles have involved increasing awareness about services and support for those with mental health conditions, as well as undertaking Mental Health First Aid training and applying their learning to provide support and signposting/referring on as appropriate. 

Mental Health Equality Forum 

SG’s Mental Health Directorate has established a Health Equality Forum to hear first-hand about issues experienced by specific equality groups.