Brent Health Matters publishes first ever annual report

Since Brent Health Matters was launched in September 2020, it has gone from strength to strength, building up a team of 45 volunteer Community Champions and working with a network of 428 community organisations to change the way in which local communities have their health and care needs met.

The programme’s first ever Annual Report outlines the groundbreaking nature of the work and its impact, having been born in the wake of the borough suffering the highest age-adjusted cumulative death rate in the UK during the first wave of the pandemic.

“This month marks the fourth anniversary of the launch of Brent Health Matters, and I am proud of our commitment to address health inequality issues,” explained Cllr Neil Nerva, Cabinet Member for Community Health and Wellbeing.

“Covid was a huge wake-up call, exposing the true extent of health inequality and acting as a catalyst for a change of approach. People were dying disproportionately because of who they were. Their job, their living arrangements, the area in which they reside – these all contribute to health outcomes alongside people’s ability to engage with health services, their understanding of the system and their opportunity to communicate their needs.”

Rather than expecting people to find their way to the support they need to help them live healthy lives, Brent Health Matters has flipped the script and has taken health and care services out into the community, going to people, rather than them coming to us.

The report outlines how last year the programme held 119 health and wellbeing events in the community, attended by 4,261 residents. The events offer free NHS health checks and consultations with a range of clinicians and mental health professionals and the results have been nothing short of stunning.

One in four people who were seen during the nearly 4,000 health checks carried out needed to be escalated onto a GP for further support. The programme has also assisted over 2,500 individuals with their emotional wellbeing, directing them to appropriate services. Brent Health Matters works to co-produce initiatives with local communities and last year it also provided 46 community organisations with £433,000 worth of grant funding to manage their own health projects.