Addressing non-clinical risk in people with long-term conditions and multi-morbidity to improve health outcomes

The Liverpool Advice on Prescription in Primary Care project (Liverpool APP), run by South Liverpool Citizens Advice Bureau, was set up in 2014 to help alleviate poverty and hardship among people with long-term conditions and/or co-morbid mental health problems.

Liverpool APP provides a social treatment option for primary care teams to address underlying causes of ill health, for example financial hardship, housing difficulties, debt, domestic abuse, social isolation and fuel poverty. The service takes direct referrals from GPs, responding to urgent need as well as providing ongoing support.

There have been more than 18,000 referrals made since the service’s inception, and in 2016/17, households were £2,150 a year better off on average as a result of referral to the Liverpool APP.

This project will involve identifying which specialist care pathways for people with long-term conditions would benefit the most from embedding the APP interventions. The relevant service datasets will be linked and analysed to generate detailed insight into the impact of socio-economic factors on the health of people with long-term conditions.

The delivery of the APP service will also be tested as part of the clinical redesign of the Liverpool Integrated Respiratory Service. Health care professionals in the respiratory service will be able to refer patients to the APP where appropriate. A trained advisor from the APP service will be based in respiratory services to help with initial assessment and any onward referrals.

The project aims to improve the health and wellbeing of these patients, and will use an outcome measurement tool to monitor improvements in areas such as economic wellbeing, personal dignity and quality of life.

Contact details

For further information about the project, please email Clare Mahoney, Neighbourhood Transformation Lead, Liverpool CCG.