Health hub in Frome for farmers to access vital health checks

FARMERS and agricultural workers who visit Frome Livestock Market can now access health and emotional wellbeing support while they buy and sell their produce. 

Along with general health checks, farmers can get specialist advice from NHS professionals about lifestyle, as well as any concerns about their emotional wellbeing and mental health. 

The health hub at Frome Livestock Market is operated by a team of NHS nurses with support from many different farming and community-based charities and local businesses.  

Frome Market Health Hub first opened as soon as pandemic restrictions allowed on in October last year. However, this month marks the official launch of the service. The health hub holds regular NHS clinics on the second Wednesday morning of every month – aligned with the livestock market’s busiest auction. 

Alongside the NHS-run clinics at Frome, a podiatry clinic also operates twice a month. The podiatry service is independently funded by the Frome Market Health Hub charity and has proved to be a worthwhile and much appreciated additional service, available free of charge to farmers and aligning perfectly with the commitment to improve health care for rural patients. 

Frome Market Health Hub is able to provide ideal treatment rooms using space in the auction offices that has been modified by Frome Livestock Auctioneers to the required NHS standard. Similarly, Mole Valley Farmers has designed and developed the charity’s branding and produced signage and communications materials, the costs of which would have been otherwise unaffordable. 

Lucy Nelson, deputy lieutenant and trustee of Frome Market Health Hub said, “Circumstances surrounding farming today have never been so challenging. Frome Market Health Hub has been set up to try to help in a very practical sense and we hope that other rural areas will follow suit. 

“It is enormously gratifying to witness the collaborative approach that has brought about the expansion of these rural hubs, from a single, great initiative by Derek Mead’s family to now seeing three centres in Somerset providing accessible health clinics for farmers, their families and agricultural employees.   

“The health hubs are greatly aided by the volunteers who give their time to befriend farmers and their families and gently lead them towards seeking help.  Frome Health Connectors are a mainstay of the team at Frome as are Farming Community Network – again, a show of united desires to give practical help where it is needed.” 

Find out more about the Frome Market Health Hub on the website: www.fromelivestock.com. 

Frome Market Health Hub is one of three health hubs for farmers and agricultural workers – services are also available at Exmoor Farmers Livestock Auction and the Sedgemoor Auction Centre in Bridgwater. 

Jane Fitzgerald, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s manager responsible for the health hubs, said, “Many people who work in the farming community often put the health and welfare of their livestock above that of their own wellbeing and therefore tend to put off seeking help, when it could help to save their life. 

“We know that farmers often live and work in isolated communities and we are proud that our teams are taking services to locations that are easy for them to access, and where there is no need to make an appointment, which can be a barrier to seeking advice. 

“Feedback from the first hub – the Derek Mead Health Room in Bridgwater – shows that having nurses and volunteers who understand farming communities really helps farmers to connect and engage with health services where they may not otherwise have thought about doing so. 

“Nursing staff for each of the three hubs were recruited specifically for their farming backgrounds and volunteers from the Farming Community Network (FCN) also have an important role at the three markets – encouraging farmers to visit the health clinics. 

“Sometimes we see farmers who are looking for reassurance and in other cases we have noticed signs of something that could be more significant. In those cases, a referral letter to the patient’s GP has, on occasion, provided early intervention in treatable illnesses, such as high blood pressure or signs of low mood.”

Picture: Sally Robertson – a nurse at the Frome Market Health Hub clinic.