Homeless health team partners with leading local charity Petrus to re-launch healthcare service

Liz Varey from Petrus (centre) with HART nurses

An award winning team set up to serve the health needs of homeless people in the Rochdale borough is re-launching and relocating to partner with the borough’s leading charity for homeless people, Petrus.

The Homeless Alliance Response Team, known as HART, is a primary care health service delivered by qualified clinical volunteers to the homeless and transient population of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale. The service was highly commended in the Health Service Journal Innovation Awards last year.

The team was set up to provide healthcare including GP consultations incorporating prescribing, vaccinations, nursing, administration, assessments, sexual health support, dental support, drug and alcohol and mental health services.

The service was previously delivered at the Soup Kitchen at Champness Hall but was paused at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

The service is now set to reopen and will be delivered from a new venue working in partnership with Petrus at The Petrus Hub, 73 Great George Street, Rochdale, OL16 1QG, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6.15pm to 7.30pm from Tuesday 7 December.

HART has regularly been held up as an excellent example of what can be achieved when people with a common goal to help others work together. When he visited the service in Rochdale, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester called it an “innovative model that should be considered across Greater Manchester.”

The Care Quality Commission has called it “best practice worthy of duplicating in other areas” and the British Medical Association has called the service “[an] exception to the rule where standards of care for the homeless excel.”

Dr Mo Jiva, director of Rochdale Health Alliance, who runs the service, said: “It will be rewarding to be able to care for the health needs of our homeless and transient population once again and for us to be partnered with Petrus now will mean we are better connected with this client group than before.

“If you are homeless or living transiently and require primary care medical treatment, or just want to grab a bite to eat and see a friendly face please come along on Tuesday 7 December to Petrus and we will be there to help.”

Petrus Service Lead, Liz Varey said: “We’re really pleased the HART team have joined us. They have already been delivering great results administrating Covid-19 and flu vaccinations to service users and keyworkers at our hub, and this partnership will ensure more people in our community have access to healthcare and the support they need.”