An outreach van is being used to take NHS services into communities across Blackburn with Darwen and beyond, in a bid to reach people who do not often use traditional health services.
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The scheme is a joint venture between Blackburn with Darwen GP Federation, which provides local primary care, and Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Health and Wellbeing Team.
So far, the van has been used to deliver flu and COVID vaccinations across East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, offer NHS Health Checks in hard-to-reach populations, support a child nasal flu catch-up campaign, and visit places including football stadiums and Blackburn bus station.
At those venues, it has offered prostate cancer screening conversations and finger prick PSA tests for eligible men over 50.
Dr Ridwaan Ahmed, clinical director and population health lead at Blackburn with Darwen GP Federation, said: “We recognised that improving population health needs a combined health and care approach. Alongside the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Team, we share a common ambition to reduce inequalities and reach people who are least likely to engage with traditional services.
“The initial thinking was that too many people at the highest risk of preventable illness are not accessing care through conventional routes. A mobile unit allows us to take healthcare into neighbourhoods rather than expecting people to navigate appointments, transport and time off work.
“The biggest benefit is improved access. The van enables opportunistic screening and health checks in high-footfall, trusted community settings, helping us identify risk earlier and support people into care sooner.”
Dr Ahmed said the response from the communities visited so far had been extremely positive, with people welcoming the convenience of a walk-in service delivered locally and informally.
He said the team had seen strong engagement from groups under-represented in screening and prevention programmes, and that many people said they would not have come forward if the service had only been offered through GP practices or clinics.
He added that the van was seen as part of the wider community offer rather than just a clinical service.
Dr Ahmed said the joint NHS and local authority model offered a strong blueprint for population health delivery, showing how partners could pool resources and expertise to improve access and tackle inequalities.
He said mobile outreach could be adapted for different communities and health priorities as care moves towards more neighbourhood-based and preventative approaches.
Dr Ahmed continued: “I can see more areas adopting this approach to population health. The main difference is that the model is proactive rather than reactive. Instead of waiting for people to present with problems, staff are identifying risk earlier and supporting people into care. We can bring a broader, more holistic approach to conversations about health, lifestyle and support services.
“Staff find the work highly rewarding. They are able to spend more time with individuals, have meaningful conversations about prevention and see the impact of their work directly in the communities they serve.”
Councillor Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Housing and Public Health, said: “This is a fantastic joint venture with our healthcare providers and shows the importance of collaborative working and the results that can be achieved.
“By bringing services direct into the heart of our communities we can help remove some traditional barriers to accessing healthcare such as coordinating appointments with time of work.
“It also enables more proactive approaches to healthcare by offering screening conversations which put simply could save a life.”
