A Sunderland GP has highlighted how it's vital that the NHS makes it easier for those living in deprived areas to access healthcare and explained how a new scheme seeing psychologists in GP practices could transform lives.
Speaking ahead of the NHS's 75th birthday, Dr Martin Weatherhead is a GP at Bridge View Medical Group in Sunderland, which is part of the "Deep End" network of practices serving some of the North East's most deprived communities. He welcomed the new funding boost - part of a £35m investment from the North East and North Cumbria's NHS Integrated Care Board - which will see pilot programmes with psychologists working alongside family doctors in the community expanded.
He said that measures like this were essential in ensuring the NHS was accessible to those in need. Speaking to ChronicleLive, he said that feedback from medics working in practices like his had helped direct the plan. He said: "We were able to identify that big issues were recruitment and retention - that it's harder to get staff to work in these practices than others - and also that the mental health of these populations is significantly impacted.
