PCN wins award for wellbeing café

Orpington PCN has won an award for a wellbeing café that it set up to address social isolation and deliver health services to its elderly population.

The PCN and its initiative partner Bromley Healthcare won a One Bromley recognition award on 16 May.

The Orpington wellbeing café, held at a local church, is linked to GP practices and delivers services to those over 80, such as blood pressure checks and medication reviews done by a clinical pharmacist.

The voluntary sector also offers services such as exercise, counselling, yoga, and mindfulness sessions.

The café is funded by the PCN and run by social prescribers and care coordinators who signpost attendees to other services as required.

Dr Prema Ravi, who was clinical director of Orpington PCN until February 2024, said she was delighted the team had been recognised for their work.

‘This recognition is a powerful motivation for us to persist in our commitment to community service and innovation,’ she said.

The idea of a café came about in July 2022 when the PCN realised that many older patients were still reluctant to attend GP practices, post-COVID.

Dr Ravi said that the PCN was proactive about approaching patients and she estimates that about 80% of them took up the offer.

The café has remained popular and runs at maximum attendance, which is 80 people.

The success has led to others replicating the model.

Building on the Orpington model and approach, other wellbeing cafés and hubs have been developed by health, care and voluntary sector partners across the borough.

These include a café for young mums in Mottingham and one for those with serious mental health conditions in Anerley.

There has also been an expansion in Orpington, said Dr Ravi.

‘After the success of the cafe, the council came to us and asked if there was anything we could do for carers. So, we opened a carers’ café which happens every other week and that is also well attended. They like it because they’re all in the same boat,’ she said.

Dr Ravi said that she hoped there would be a further expansion to cover other groups.

‘Say, for example, a menopause café where people could share and learn from each other. I think this is what we are aiming to do – we want to go further in the future,’ she said.

The PCN is also now working with community provider Bromley Healthcare and a neighbouring PCN in a pilot to provide anticipatory care or case management to some patients.

Dr Ravi said: ‘The aim is to prevent hospital admissions. With case management, we have saved about £47,000 with just 10 cases in a six-month pilot.’

The One Bromley recognition awards recognise exceptional staff and teams from across Bromley’s health, care, and voluntary services.