Some of the biggest impacts to health are made by things that happen outside of a consultation room. This is why a GP surgery in Herstmonceux has been working together with their local council to provide alternative services which improve quality of life for some of their older patients.

Dr Simmons teamed up with Wealden District Council to appoint a health and wellbeing coach, based at the surgery. By direct referral to the health coach from their doctor, older patients are now being ‘prescribed’ a range of activities such as fitness classes, coffee mornings, walking groups and even choirs.

Read how a number of patients are now benefiting from the project and the positive effects are also being observed by GPs at the health centre. 

East Sussex Better Together has partnered with a local voluntary organisation, Southdown, to transform community services for those living with mental health conditions in East Sussex.

The new service, The Mental Health Community Network, aims to proactively support people to stay well and maintain good levels of mental health by providing new services and access to earlier support, focusing on prevention and promoting recovery (for example developing or re-establishing social networks and enabling coping strategies).

Visit the ESBT website to learn more about the new services.

i-Rock is an award winning mental health, wellbeing and practical support service for young people aged 14 - 25 in Hastings.

In March they held a successful open day to welcome visitors into their new larger space at Rock House and meet the staff behind the service.

We spoke with the team to learn more about i-Rock and their roles.

Read the full article to meet the team and hear more about their work.

Are you or is someone you know interested in learning new skills, building confidence, meeting friends and making a difference to the health of others?

If so, becoming an ESBT Community Cancer Awareness Project volunteer may be for you.

Meet Cancer Awareness Project Volunteer Sandy and learn how attending a cancer awareness Learning Workshop and becoming a volunteer not only helped her with her own cancer diagnosis, but now means she is actively involved in helping save lives in her community.

The ESBT Outcomes Framework is a tool which identifies a number of health and social care outcomes for us to measure our progress against.

This will help us understand if ESBT is working effectively to improve; population health and wellbeing, local people’s experiences, sustainability and quality of care and support.

In March 2018 the Outcomes Framework was updated following feedback from local people and stakeholder groups.

Click here to read about what they said, and view a summary of the updated Framework.