Download the Standards
Download version 3.1 of the Homeless and Inclusion Health Standards for Commissioners and Service Providers Updated Winter 2018
Download an electronic version of the HRA Referral Form
Standards Annex:
What are The Standards?
The Homeless and Inclusion Health Service Standards for Commissioners and Service Providers (‘The Standards’) are produced by The Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health as a framework for the commissioning and provision of health services for excluded people.
They draw upon the latest evidence of best practice and provide quality assurance for supporting vulnerable and excluded patients with multiple and complex needs, commonly referred to as inclusion health patients.
Who are The Standards for?
Commissioning and providing homeless health services requires an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the patients being supported, the healthcare environment, social care facilities and community services. The Standards have been written to support:
- Commissioners within Local Authorities and CCGs
- Public Health officials
- Health and Wellbeing Boards
- Officers with responsibility for JSNAs
- Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs)
- Accountable Care Systems (ACS).
- Councillors and MPs seeking to ensure their areas provide the best care
- Providers of services to inclusion health groups
The Standards are multidisciplinary, including guidance for Primary Care, Secondary Care, Community services and oral health. They are applicable to any service working with vulnerable patients, but particularly those specialising in the care of:
- Patients who are homeless
- People who sell sex
- Vulnerable migrants
- People from gypsy and traveller communities
Why set standards?
Patients who are disadvantaged and multiply excluded often have complex physical and mental health problems, but face barriers to health and social care. A report published in The Lancet in 2017 showed that people in this situation face mortality rates ten times higher than the rest of the population.
To offer the best chance of recovery, most patients will require specialist multi-agency support, underpinned by a full understanding of the integrations between health, social care, and community services.
There is an increasing wealth of knowledge about inclusion health best practice – the most effective way of providing the support this vulnerable patient group need. This has been amassed through professionals working in the field, researchers studying in this arena, and from people with lived experience of exclusion who are willing to share their unique insight.
The Standards utilise the knowledge of all three groups, ensuring that they reflect the clinical, social and interpersonal needs of patients – a ‘whole person’ approach to care.
Who Sets the Standards?
The Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health compiles the standards based upon evidence and practice from members across multiple disciplines, current research and the lived experience of excluded people.
Version three of the Standards has been endorsed by a range of Royal Colleges, including the Royal College of Physicians and the College of Medicine.
The Standards are known to have been used to inform the development of JSNAs inclusion health services in Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester; as well as public health approaches across Scotland.
Download the Standards
Download version 3.1 of the Homeless and Inclusion Health Standards for Commissioners and Service Providers
Updated Winter 2018
Download an electronic version of the HRA Referral Form
Standards Annex:
1. Street outreach
The aim of the street outreach guidelines is to assist services to plan new health related street outreach projects, or to review services’ existing outreach. Homeless health services cover a range of locations, and the demographics of people sleeping rough in these areas may differ widely. This outreach document is designed as a flexible tool for sharing best practice and innovative ideas, allowing services to use them as appropriate to their areas. (January 2021).
Download an electronic version of the street outreach guidelines.
2. Homeless Admission Tool
The Homeless Assessment Tool (HAT) is a comprehensive checklist for every hospital doctor and nurse to commence at admission when caring for homeless patients. It can be embedded in hospital IT systems so the checklist appears and is activated automatically when a homeless patient is admitted. This document is designed to address and manage the dynamic and complex care needs of homeless patients from a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach, aiming to streamline their admission and their discharge. (March 2021)
Download an electronic version of the Homeless Admission Tool.
3. Ambulance pre-hospital signposting
This poster, designed by Andi Smith of WMAS, supports ambulance crews in being attentive to the needs of people experiencing homelessness, particularly when hospital conveyance is not required. Practical and useful advice, with simple ideas to share, whilst highlighting the potential that a person could be homeless at the earliest stage. The overall aim is to give patients the right support at the right time. (April 2021)
Download the poster here: Ambulance Poster (PEH).
