General practice teams changed their services to better include patients with severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) after facilitated collaboration with people with lived experience according to a paper published in the British Journal of General Practice. Implementing these changes brought joy and satisfaction to general practice staff and increased connections with patients and community organisations.
The changes which were implemented using existing funding available to general practices included:
- using care coordinators and a micro-team to advocate and work with a specially created patient list
- prioritising flexible access and longer appointments to patients in greater need
- promoting a trauma-informed approach throughout the whole practice team.
