We need this scheme in rural settings as well as urban settings. This story tells us:
GPs are to prescribe financial advice sessions for patients as part of a pilot scheme to help people with long-term health conditions.
Under the scheme in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, doctors will send patients to see financial support link workers, who will help them claim benefits, obtain grants for essential items and deal with debts.
The groups behind the programme, Impact on Urban Health and the Centre for Responsible Credit, said in a report that there was a “reciprocal relationship” between financial health and multiple long-term health conditions, and that those who shaped healthcare policy should take a “much wider” view of public health.
Kieron Boyle, the chief executive of Impact on Urban Health, said: “People’s finances and health are connected: debt, money worries and financial insecurity can have a profound effect on our physical and mental health.
“This is especially the case in ‘cliff edge’ moments such as unexpected bills or delays in income.