New NHS role: health and wellbeing coaches
KnowledgeThe start of September saw guidance and training material for a brand new role within the NHS: health and wellbeing coaches. The role, which was introduced in April 2020, will work within primary care networks (PCNs), and has been developed to align with the focus on prevention and self-management set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Health and wellbeing coaches are one of three new roles within PCNs as part of the latest changes to the NHS focusing on personalised care and self-directed support. The other two new roles are than of social prescribing link workers and care coordinators.
The three roles, working together, are intended to reduce and support the workload of GPs and other staff by supporting people to take more control of their health and wellbeing and to address wider determinants of health, such as poor housing, debt, stress and loneliness.
Referrals into these services are usually from within primary care (although this may vary depending on your local area) but the role will liaise across disciplines to support the individual as their needs require.
More information:
To understand the role, how it can work, and who it might be appropriate for, this short video outlines an early pilot of the initiative and gives a good overview:
The wider focus on wellness and holistic care provided by the PCNs is outlined in this short video:
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