The homeless community: breaking down the barriers to primary care

Being homeless and sleeping rough is sadly not a new phenomenon. The numbers of homeless people all across England have been increasing over recent years (Crisis, 2016; DCLG, 2016) and a research project carried out on behalf of ‘Crisis’ and the ‘Joseph Rowntree Foundation’ suggests that the numbers will continue to rise in the future (Crisis, 2017) In England, the estimated number of rough sleepers in 2010 was 1768 (Crisis, 2016), 3569 in 2015 and 4134 in autumn 2016 (DCLG, 2016). In Manchester the figure was estimated to be 7 in 2010 and 70 in 2015 (Crisis, 2016). In 2015 there had been a 62% increase in rough sleepers in Manchester from the previous year. This is much higher than the national average increase of 30%, which makes Manchester the fourth highest area of rough sleepers in the UK (DCLG, 2016; UVMP, 2016). The rapid increase in the numbers of homeless adults in Manchester has been attributed to the thriving night life and its associated opportunities to access street funds (UVMP, 2016). The Voluntary groups who often work closely with the homeless community believe that the figures produced by local government largely underestimate the true numbers of homeless in their areas (Crisis, 2017). The average age of death for the homeless is 47 years for men and 43 years for women (UVMP, 2016. DoH, 2010). Homelessness itself is a marker of morbidity and many of the homeless have a long-term mental, physical or addiction problem (Aspinall, 2014; Fazel et al, 2014). These health problems are then often left unattended due to the homeless community experiencing barriers to accessing primary care (Riley et al, 2003; Canavan et al, 2012; Aspinall, 2014).