Bishop backs Brazil-style council estate health programme
Pilot on Churchill Gardens estate has been a success
Friday, 5th May 2023 — By Tom Foot
The Bishop on the Churchill Gardens Estate
THE Bishop of London called for a pioneering health project to be scaled-up nationally during a council estate tour.
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE spoke to faith leaders, GPs, charity workers and Westminster councillors in Churchill Gardens estate about the success of the Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHWW) programme.
Launched in 2021, the Pimlico programme pro- vides tenants with better access to primary care specialists and regular home visits.
It has led to significant increases in cancer checks and vaccinations, and also a drop-off in patients making unscheduled visits to surgeries, and also referrals to social services.
The bishop said: “Seeing the Churchill Gardens community health and wellbeing programme in person opened my eyes even further to the benefits this approach brings those communities involved, whether that be in increasing prevention opportunities or helping combat loneliness.”
She added: “If scaled-up nationally here in the UK, as Brazil has, the impact on health outcomes on a national scale could be dramatic.”
The Extra reported on the pilot idea – which originated in Brazil – with a front page story in 2021.
The Churchill Gardens pilot scheme is run by Westminster City Council, Imperial College London, Marven GP Practice in Pimlico, and the National Association of Primary Care.
The Pimlico pilot success has led the NHS to expand the service to other parts of Westminster.
In Brazil the system has been credited with bringing dramatic benefits to people.
It was set up in Westminster after a paper was published in the prestigious Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine written by Matthew Harris, public health consultant at Imperial College.
He has been promoting the idea over the years along with Cornelia Junghans, a fellow practitioner attached to Westminster Council’s public health department.
The council’s health lead councillor Nafsika Butler-Thalassis said: “Our community health and wellbeing workers have achieved spectacular results by working consistently with residents within their own communities.
“This enables residents to navigate services and receive the help they need, aligning with our fairer Westminster pledge to provide high quality health and care for residents.”
“Having the Bishop of London visit Churchill Gardens to see this pioneering scheme first hand has been fantastic.”
