The experiences of homeless people using health services in Croydon
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In February 2018, Healthwatch Croydon carried out a project to look at the experiences of homeless people using local health services.
Healthwatch Croydon were told about GPs refusing to register customers who reside at the hostel, and that this issue had persisted for several years with BME customers in particular. Customers also told us about barriers to registration, barriers accessing healthcare, and not being referred to appropriate services or receiving equitable treatment.
Healthwatch Croydon delivered five sessions of outreach over two weeks at locations run by Evolve Croydon services. In addition, staff across five of the hostels supported customers to fill out the survey for a further week.
They spoke to 78 customers in total, which represents 27% of homeless people in Evolve accommodation in Croydon. Healthwatch Croydon worked with two compatible styles of survey, a short version of two questions and a longer version of seven, depending on the situation of the customer at the time of the outreach session. Some customers answered the survey in part.
Key findings highlight issues in the following areas: registration, access, being listened to, involvement in decision making, and choice.