As part of the UN Sustainable Goals, goal 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This will be a major part of our sustainability strategy and will also include addressing health inequalities in the areas where we live and work.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/

Preventing poor health in the first place is the best way for us and the NHS to become the most sustainable healthcare system it can be.

1. Engaging with the community

Through our link worker team and First Contact Practitioner team, our plan is to continue to engage with the community, community services, charities and local voluntary organisations to bridge the gap between medical care and community support. With pressure growing in primary care, we must support communities and community initiatives to help people find good health. We know from research that when people engage with their community, they live healthier lives. We’ll continue to work with Schools such as Whitgift, offering physiotherapy to pupils. We participate in more community events, and look to sponsor stands or shows. We’ll continue to hold engagement and education events for patients through webinars with local GP surgeries.

2. Volunteering for Events

In 2023, Surrey Physio were represented by 21 of our physiotherapists volunteering at the London Marathon to staff the medical tents from mile 14 to mile 25, finish-line physios, and providing physiotherapists to the two Sweeper buses. You can read more on this page: https://www.surreyphysio.co.uk/services/medical-provision-at-the-london-marathon/

In 2022, Surrey Physio were represented by 14 of our physiotherapists at this incredible multi-sport Games that saw teams attend from all over the Commonwealth. You can read more here: https://www.surreyphysio.co.uk/about/olympics

Our team are keen to volunteer to support local events, local charities, and disability events.

3. Encourage Children to get Active

Our digital software app, Hoop, is inspiring thousands of parents to encourage their children to get active. We list healthy activities on our amazing app Hoop, with our goal to get 1,000,000 kids doing healthy activities. Our mission at Hoop is to reduce obesity, get kids away from tech and instant gratification, get kids away from social gaming, and encourage play, the old-fashioned way… playing football in the park, cycling with friends, and running round. We know that if we can get enough kids close to nature, outdoors, and away from social media, we can reduce childhood mental health issues and obesity. That’s why we will only list healthy children’s events – that’s our user agreement with organisers. We’ve had huge support from the NHS who have put us on their accelerator. You can read more about our mission and values here: https://hoop.co.uk/mission/

4. Therapy for the Body and Mind

Patients need to feel better. It’s not good enough to simply dictate how to get better to patients these days. Yes, education is still very important, but patients also need to “feel” better. We combine education, advice, guidance, manual therapy, health coaching and motivational coaching to patients to provide them a unique experience to kickstart their recovery. We open the door to provide them the tools to self-activate, to self-manage, and to recover. We provide classes, therapy sessions, weight loss support, and diabetes support. We plan to expand our offering of diabetes, Escape Pain, and weight loss support groups locally.

5. Working in Challenging Areas

Supporting patients from impoverished areas requires a thoughtful approach that acknowledges financial constraints, access issues, and potentially limited health literacy. A key is linking our physiotherapy team with our link worker team.

We offer discounted fees, and a hardship support for patients unable to afford treatment. We offer education to the public. We recognise and work in tough areas, where immigration is high, or education levels are low, and in areas were many do not speak English. We do our best to link people to communities, where we know they will get additional support and make friends, as well as reduce loneliness. We collaborate with local charities, local councils and local hospitals.

Our plan is to offer more free care for hardship patients, and patients who have challenging issues. We will do this by utilising our help with students, and seeking support from volunteers.