Our second blog is from our Strategy Manager, Rachael Murphy, who is leading our transport to health work. In this post, Rachael discusses the challenges faced by people living in rural areas of our region when trying to reach healthcare appointments, and the work we’re doing to address this issue.
For most people in this country, the national health service is a source of pride, delivering cradle to grave care, regardless of individual circumstance. In reality however, we know that individual circumstance does come into play when accessing healthcare. Citizens in rural communities, suburbs, and deprived areas, as well as those who cannot afford or physically access our transport network are not in an equitable position. Too often, those needing to access services as patient or visitors, are paying for taxis with money they don’t have, taking impractical and uncomfortably long journeys with multiple interchanges, or simply not making appointments at all. The impact of this on the individual and our health service is of course negative, as healthcare resource is wasted on missed appointments and patient outcomes worsen.
My interest in transport to health began over seven years ago, when I was a Support and Engagement Officer at the Community Transport Association. Seeing the impact that Community Transport operators could have in improving health outcomes was as inspiring as their underfunding was frustrating.
The relationship between transport and health is more than using transport to access healthcare, but also the positive impact that healthy transport choices can have at a public health level. These two aspects of the health and transport relationship, can be seen in all four of our Regional Transport Strategy objectives:
Strategy objective 1: Transitioning to a sustainable, post-carbon transport system
Strategy objective 2: Facilitating healthier travel options
Strategy objective 3: Transforming public transport connectivity and access across the region
Strategy objective 4: Supporting safe, sustainable and efficient movement of people and freight across the region
Given the importance of this connection, I have been working with my SEStran colleague Sandra Lavergne, to establish and develop a transport to health learning network for our four health boards across the region: Forth Valley, Fife, Lothian and Borders, as well as the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Scotland Assure. We have been meeting every 6 to 8 weeks, to share learnings, challenges and to hear from external speakers to understand their perspectives.
Building on this new network, this month we have co-hosted an event with wonderful colleagues from Public Health Scotland in Edinburgh, bringing together around 40 voices across health and transport to share knowledge and find ways to better collaborate on the challenges set out above. Reading through some of the projects currently happening in our region, the challenges seemed a little more surmountable.
Through our business plan for the next financial year, we are hoping to carry out a comprehensive review of the literature surrounding this topic and develop a case for change that could lead to a SEStran transport to health strategy – something that is vital for our region if we are to tackle the inequality in accessing healthcare.
If you have ideas, experience or just enthusiasm for this topic, we would love to hear from you!
