Cheshire and Wirral Partnership: Mobile self-drive unit helps Trust to address health inequalities across the region

A new project, launching this month led by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will help to address health inequalities across the region and deliver decentralised healthcare to underserved communities. 

As a first of its kind nationally, EMS Healthcare are proud to be playing an important part in supporting this project by providing the three self-drive units, which are helping to bring healthcare into everyone's each. By using an Outreach, a multi-functional self-drive unit, the project will deliver:

• On-the-spot vaccinations
• Physical health checks
• Mental and wellbeing support

Louis McDermott, Operational Lead for Vaccination and Living Well Service, said: "Ultimately it's a mobile clinic space that provides all the benefits you would get if you went to your local GP, and people can have a safe and effective clinical experience.

"EMS have been brilliant, they get the project, they get the purpose. They've developed a mechanism that enables us to get right to those communities, not being reliant on any fixed estate and something that provides a very flexible and versatile opportunity." 

Barney Payne, Clinical Lead for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, added: "People have got out of the habit of visiting a GP. If you ask, for instance, 'when did you last get your blood pressure done', they said, 'Oh pre-COVID.' So they're finding it really handy and they can get all these basic health checks done because we're here in the car park, they think it's a brilliant idea."