Mildmay Mission Hospital is now going through its long-awaited review of the Step-Down Homeless Medical Care Pathway pilot that it has run over the past year with homeless patients stepped down from London’s NHS acute hospitals during the pandemic.
We have achieved some fantastic outcomes for a large group of patients, and we are confident that we have surpassed all the expectations of the service. We are gathering all the data for the review, and in time can make this information public, demonstrating our effectiveness.
Mildmay is contracted until the end of June, by which time NHS and Local Authority Commissioners must decide whether a Homeless Step-Down Service for London is needed.
We appreciate funding new services such as this is challenging but we feel strongly that the alternative, to go back to no Homeless Step-Down Service for London would be a serious U-turn.
Mildmay Hospital has been providing holistic, patient-centred care for those living with HIV infection since 1988, but it would now be extremely difficult to maintain this service without the Homeless Pathway contract in place.
We hope that in due course, we can close our petition – but not yet! Our brilliant supporters have helped us to keep our cause in the public’s awareness – and therefore also of politicians and NHS Commissioners. We hope we won’t need to actually present it to Matt Hancock, but that option is still on the table. Nevertheless, the petition has been a powerful tool in ensuring our survival thus far and we thank everyone who signed and continues to support us.
Header image by jack atkinson