The Nurse on Tour Team will take mobile health support and information directly to the Gloucestershire farming community.

The NHS Information Bus is taking the Nurse on Tour team (a Gloucestershire Primary Care Training Hub initiative which includes student nurses from the University of Gloucestershire) to Cirencester Livestock Market on Tuesday June 17.

Following previous visits, the highly-skilled team will be on hand once again to speak to farmers about any mental or physical health concerns.

Karis Ramsay, Clinical Learning and Development Lead for Primary Care at NHS Gloucestershire has been coordinating the visits. She said: “The incidence of certain physical and mental health issues are common in farming occupations, particularly for men.

However, we know that in rural communities there can be barriers to seeking help from GP services so we are taking the help to the community.

It’s about being agile and responsive to the needs of all our diverse communities in Gloucestershire so that we can take the right support to people who sometimes struggle to connect with us – for example due to time pressures.”

Farmers are invited to have a health check or talk through any health concerns in a private and confidential space on board the info bus at the Livestock Market. The team will also discuss preventative healthcare during the visit which is part of Diabetes Week.

Checks will include height, weight and body mass index (BMI) as well as blood pressure, heart rate and screening for diabetes if there’s a clinical need.

At the market, farmers are also invited to give feedback. Out of 72 farmers who shared their views recently, 46 said they didn’t have time to do their farming work if they attend medical appointments. 34 reported that they would rather manage health issues on their own and 27 said that they found it hard to arrange appointments around work schedules.

Karis has also undertaken Mental Health First Aider assessment with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) which enables her to understand and respond to some of the unique issues experienced by farmers.

She said: “Farming can be a stressful life, the advancements in technology may have improved efficiency in farming however, it may also be a contributing factor to isolation and loneliness.

Isolation and loneliness are phases often expressed by our farmers from all kinds of different farming backgrounds, Farmers are telling us that they don’t have time to do their farm work if they take time out to seek help so that puts even more pressure on them”.

Karis also reports that some farmers have also spoken about how drop-in clinics and outreach events are helping to fit around their busy lifestyles.

Jule Zatman-Symonds, Deputy Chief Nurse at NHS Gloucestershire describes the project as part of a move to reduce health inequalities in farming communities across Gloucestershire.

Julie said: “The data collected so far has been informative and will help the NHS to better understand the needs of the farming community and seek to adapt services to address this in line with the NHS 10-year plan and the preventative agenda.

Often the issues experienced in our local farming communities can be overlooked because as a group they may be reluctant to seek help or find the time to attend appointments, which can then lead to poorer health and wellbeing outcomes”.

Notes 

The Information Bus will attend the Cirencester Livestock Market from 10am to 3pm on Tuesday June 17.

The featured image for this post is for advertising purposes only, no patients were consulted on the day the photo was taken.