Health Professionals

We deliver services to patients across the North East and North Cumbria. More details for our current services can be found below.

We are ambitious to do more and are growing our innovation hub that brings people together to tackle health inequalities across the North East and North Cumbria.

What can we offer and how will we work?

The new organisation will offer services from the development of an idea through to delivery and evaluation:

• Test and learn: initial testing of ideas and testing prototypes at scale.
• Development services: developing a business case, funding options and income generation, cross-sector contacts and partnership development, project modelling and budgeting.
• Delivery services: project consultancy and delivery (direct or in partnership).
• Impact and influencing: data analysis and research with bespoke data collection systems. Using what we learn to influence wider policy and practice and testing the potential for delivery at scale.

Find out more about our vision and values here, or if you’d like to arrange a discussion please contact us.

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Current projects

• ▶ Long-term health conditions

  The Ways to Wellness long-term conditions service is for people with certain long-term health conditions, aged 18-74, who attend participating GP practices in Newcastle upon Tyne.

  The eligible long-term health conditions are:

  • Chronic breathing difficulties (COPD) or Asthma
  • Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
  • Heart disease
  • Epilepsy
  • Thinning of the bones (osteoporosis)
  • Hypertension
  • Pre-diabetes (non-diabetic hyperglycaemia)
  • Osteoarthritis of the hip/knee
  • Any of the above with depression and/or anxiety

  Click here for more information about the long term conditions service

• ▶ Children and families: SPACE pilot

  SPACE CYP (Social Prescribing And Community rEsourcesfor Children and Young People) - otherwise known as the ‘SPACE pilot’ - is a partnership project between Ways to Wellness and the Great North Children’s Hospital. The SPACE pilot will explore social prescribing for children with complex chronic conditions - integrating the hospital and community settings.

  We have the following criteria to be eligible for support:

  • Families who have a child aged 0-15 years with conditions such as: cerebral palsy; epilepsy; autism; or another chronic disability related to a neurological condition
  • Children who are hospital in-patients, and their families - admitted under any paediatric team. Clinicians should be confident that the child is sufficiently medically well for the social prescribing intervention to be appropriate at that time.
  • Living in the North East/North Cumbria area.
  • Children and their family are willing to consent to both the intervention and the evaluation.

  Click here for more information about the SPACE pilot.

• ▶ Suicide Prevention Network Grants 2022/23

  The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System's Suicide Prevention Network includes a wide range of partners who share the following aims:

  • Develop suicide safer communities
  • To increase the community-based support for those at risk of suicide, including high risk groups
  • Reduce the number of people who die by suicide including in high-risk groups
  • Reduce the incidence of self-harm and repeated self-harm
  • Reduce the stigma of self-harm and suicide
  • Reduce the impact of self-harm and suicide
  • Increase support for carers and those bereaved by suicide.

  For 2022/23, the Suicide Prevention Network Grant Scheme is managed by Ways to Wellness.

  Click here for more information about the Suicide Prevention Network Grants 2022/23.

• ▶ Maternal Mental Health Service Programme

  The aim of the Maternal Mental Health Service Programme is to support the development of new maternal mental health services via the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, to help better deliver meaningful outcomes and benefits from preconception through to baby's 2nd birthday.

  With our four partner organisations, working across the four Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) areas of the North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System, we are delivering four prototype link work services, harnessing the innovation and community knowledge of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector for a person centred, strength-based approach, empowering mothers and families.

  The delivery of this new initiative was supported by transformational funding from the North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System (NENC ICS).

  Click here for more information about the Maternal Mental Health Service Programme.

• ▶ Waiting Well: Perioperative Social Prescribing

  Patients who are given appropriate support to ‘wait well’ for surgery are more likely to achieve positive outcomes pre and post-surgery.

  The Waiting Well PROSPeR (Perioperative Social Prescribing) project explores how the social prescribing 'link worker' model can support people on the waiting list for orthopaedic (e.g. hip and knee) surgery. Ways to Wellness link workers will support patients from pre- to post-operation, improving their health and wellbeing for their operation and beyond.

  To be eligible for support, patients must:

  • Be on the P4 waiting list for hip or knee replacement surgery, or back surgery. Patients from ethnic minorities and socially deprived areas will be targeted first
  • Be taking pain medication (e.g. opioids, gabapentinoids) for six months or longer, and not currently receiving support from the acute or chronic pain service
  • Have a minimum of 12 weeks until surgery is due to take place
  • Be resident in the geographical area of the project. The project covers the area of the Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Northumbria NHS Foundation Trusts.

  The project is funded by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board's ‘Waiting Well’ programme.

  Click here for more information about the Waiting Well PROSPeR project.