NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is committed to becoming a leading anti-racism organisation. We want to ensure that our workforce at every level represents the communities we serve and that we are inclusive and welcoming of all patients and staff.
We recognise that racism is a fundamental cause of poor health in affected populations.
We believe our workplace should be a place where discrimination is unacceptable.
We plan to –
actively seek out and remove racism and discriminatory practice
identify the systems and behaviour that are allowing this to happen
ensure that everyone feels able to bring these to light.
Through our tried and tested methods, our staff and patients with lived experience of racism will tell us how well we are doing this. Along with our network of anti-racism organisations, they will also help us shape our ongoing work.
Our actions are grouped under the following themes.
Leadership and Accountability
Our leaders will be visible in their commitment to stand against racism and will work together to ensure their power and influence successfully delivers our goals. They will continue to invest in established anti-racism work, including activity to increase representation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people in leadership positions.
Data and Evidence
Our workforce will be supported to provide equality monitoring data that will allow the organisation to determine whether we have a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. This information will allow us to identify any additional measures that need to be taken to ensure inclusion across all areas.
Patient data will be used to measure whether our services are meeting the needs of BME people. There have been significant improvements in gathering ethnicity data in recent years, however more examination is required to find out if we are consistently providing improved access to services for BME people.
Workforce, Culture and Wellbeing
Our ongoing workforce activities will continue to focus on creating fair opportunities and promoting our anti-racist position. These include a dedicated BME leadership programme and a supported BME Staff Network.
Staff are supported to report perceived Hate Crime incidents via NHSGGC’s incident reporting system. Racist incidents are the most commonly reported, which has led to system-wide campaigns supported by resources and training.
We will deliver equality, diversity and inclusion training to all NHSGGC managers which will highlight the manager’s role in tackling racism in the workplace. This will sit alongside our delivery of a range of anti-racism learning opportunities developed by the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER).
Equality Focused Service Delivery
Our Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) Programme will continue to be used to highlight the impact any service changes may have on particular communities or groups of patients.
A new Frontline Equality Access Tool (FEAT) is now being used in hospital services to better understand how equality law is translated into everyday activity. The tool allows us to identify areas where staff need additional support to ensure they meet the needs of all patients. This work has helped us develop a patient pathway app, ‘Meeting the Needs of BME People’, which supports staff in understanding and responding sensitively to the needs of BME patients.
Lindsay is an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist (APP) for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, based in the West of Scotland.
What is the role of an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist?
The role of an APP is to help people aged 14 years and older with the diagnosis, management, and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. These conditions include problems with bones, joints, soft tissues, and muscles.
How can they help you?
There are online guides that can be found on the NHSGGC website, which would be the first step if you’re experiencing any muscle, bone, or joint pain. If you are still struggling, you may have an APP within your GP Practice to book an appointment to see without needing a GP.
An APP has all a GP’s expertise and diagnostic tools, including X-rays, blood tests, and MRI scans as necessary. If further investigations or onward referrals are required, APPs can arrange this.
How can you speak to an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist?
You can book in directly with an APP at your GP Practice if you have one.
If you don’t have one, you can start self-help by reviewing the NHSGGC website for online guides. You can also self-refer to the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapy service, which will provide ongoing treatment if required.
Moira is a Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Inverclyde. She has been based at Greenock Health and Care Centre since 2016.
What is the role of an Advanced Nurse Practitioner?
ANPs cover a range of different conditions and can do house visits in the community as well as seeing patients by appointment at GP practices. House visits are allocated by GPs and ANPs will go out to assess the patient.
How can they help you?
Our team of nine ANPs can see up to about 50 patients a week for many different conditions like chest infections, COPD exacerbation, falls, back pain and urinary tract infections. Some of these can be dealt with by ANPs in their entirety and others will require onward referral.
How can you speak to an Advanced Nurse Practitioner?
You may be referred to an ANP when you contact your GP practice.
Andrew is a Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner for the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Flow Navigation Centre, also known as Virtual Accident and Emergency (A&E).
What is the role of the Flow Navigation Centre?
The role of the Flow Navigation Centre, or Virtual A&E, is to support patients aged 5 years old and older with non-life-threatening emergency injuries and illnesses in a virtual capacity. This means patients can be treated safely from home, rather than visiting a potentially busy A&E in person.
How can they help you?
Virtual A&E is a team of highly experienced Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Emergency Nurse Practitioners, Advanced Paramedics, and Emergency Medical Consultants. They assess patients and can provide self-care treatment from the comfort of home. If required, they can arrange a scheduled in-person appointment at A&E, a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU), or you may be referred to a specialist medical service for your needs.
How can you speak to Virtual A&E?
By calling NHS 24 on 111, appropriate patients will be referred for an appointment with virtual A&E. Virtual A&E is open 7 days a week.
Patients may also be referred to the virtual A&E team by their GP, Pharmacist, Scottish Ambulance Service, or within a nursing home.
Kate is an Assistant Clinical Director for the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Public Dental Service and has advised on the role of the Out of Hours Dental Service.
What is the role of the Out of Hours Dental Service?
The role of the Out of Hours Dental Service is to provide people with urgent dental care if needed outside of their dentist’s working hours.
How can they help you?
If you are experiencing significant dental pain, or you have any urgent dental need outside of the hours your dentist, the Out of Hours Dental Service can help you if appropriate.
How can you speak to the Out of Hours Dental Service?
To access the Out of Hours Dental Service, call NHS 24 on 111, select the dental option and you will receive help and advice.
The service only provides help for urgent dental conditions, but people are urged to call 111 even if they’re not sure. Even if you are not referred to the Out of Hours Service, you will receive advice on self-care and help available locally.
If your issue isn’t out of hours, please call your local dentist and provide them with the details of your problem. If they think you require to see someone urgently, they will organise an emergency appointment with them.
Kerri is a General Practitioner (GP) in the Southside of Glasgow.
What is the role of the General Practitioner?
The role of a GP and how you access primary care has changed.
Your GP continues to provide general health advice and care, however, when you come in for an appointment, what you see is only a small part of practice life. There is a lot that takes place that you might not see from reception contacting patients, virtual appointments, medication reviews, patient letters, clinics, training and much more.
How can they help you?
Contact your GP if you have an urgent care need, an illness that does not improve with self-treatment, are worried about your health, or have an ongoing health condition.
If you feel like you need to contact your GP, please ensure that you’ve checked self-help guides online and / or spoken with your local pharmacist for advice on common ailments, their treatments and medication first.
This is particularly important with winter viruses at this time of year. Most cough, cold and flu symptoms result from common winter viruses. Viral infections do not respond to antibiotics, so rather than calling your GP, the best advice is to stay at home and take traditional over-the-counter remedies.
How can you make an appointment with a GP?
You can contact your GP by calling your practice’s reception. Please know that to ensure that you’re accessing the right care, GP receptionists will triage by asking some confidential questions. They’ll then signpost you to the person or service that best meets your needs. This may be your GP, or it could be one of the services mentioned below.
GPs now have access to support services that complement and support GP care including advanced nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses managing vaccinations, and community links workers for social and wellbeing.
Before calling your GP, you’re encouraged to seek help via online resources as your symptoms could be treated at home. It is important that you use the resources available when you have a health issue. Think about the symptom finder of NHS Inform, use the NHS 24 app, and in addition there are other people around to seek help from.
Sharon Irvine is a Community Link Worker who has been based at Castlemilk Health Centre for two years.
What does a Community Link Worker do?
There are 74 Community Link Workers across Glasgow. They are based in ‘Deep End’ GP practices in 80 of the city’s most vulnerable areas, based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. CLWs aim to help people who may contact their GP with issues that are not medical, but are negatively affecting their lives.
How can they help you?
CLWs can help with a range of social issues including money and debt help, energy costs, housing, loneliness and isolation, and problems with mental health and wellbeing.
They can link people to groups and organisations, often within their own community, that provide support.
Link workers can support people with housing meetings and applications, and some run walking groups to help participants make new connections and improve their wellbeing. In Castlemilk, Sharon also helps run a bereavement group to provide additional support to those who need it.
How can you speak to a Community Links Worker?
At GP practices that have an embedded CLW, any member of the multi-disciplinary primary care team can make a referral. People can also self-refer.
Willis is an Optometrist at Wilkie Optometrists and an NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Optometric Advisor.
What does an optometrist do?
The role of an optometrist is more than determining whether you need glasses. An optometrist specialises in overall healthcare for eyes and vision, including detection of diseases.
How can they help you?
You don’t have to be a glasses wearer to visit an optometrist for help. Anyone in Greater Glasgow and Clyde can visit an optometrist if they have an issue with their eyes. This could be issues with vision or sore, red, or itchy eyes.
If the optometrist feels it is appropriate, they can also prescribe you medication for any infections involving your eyes.
Optometrists can also detect eye diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration.
How can you speak to an optometrist?
Contact any optometrist in your local area of high street. If you’re in pain and they can’t give you an appointment that day, they’ll help you find an optometrist who can.
In many instances, people think that the best place to go with sore, red, or itchy eyes is their GP, however the GP will signpost you to an optometrist so your best to go to them directly.
This appointment is covered by the NHS and you will not need to pay for a consultation.
Azhar Sheikh is a community pharmacist based in the southside of Glasgow.
What is a Community Pharmacist?
Pharmacies have truly become the heart of healthcare in the community setting and are no longer just a place to collect your prescriptions. A community pharmacist offers advice to patients for a range of minor illnesses, helps to counsel patients on how to take their medicines safely, and recommends the most effective treatments. They also have consultation rooms where you can chat in private and have some conditions examined when appropriate.
How can they help you?
In addition to fulfilling prescriptions, the range of services that a community pharmacist provides has vastly changed in the last few years. They can now also treat conditions such as impetigo, shingles or urinary tract infections, so if you feel like you might have one of these, your pharmacist should be your first stop. No appointment is required.
Community pharmacists are also good to help advise with colds and flu. Many viruses are not treatable with antibiotics, but community pharmacists can help with various over-the-counter medicines to help you feel comfortable and alleviate the symptoms you may be experiencing.
How can you speak to a Community Pharmacist?
Your local pharmacist is available to speak to you during the day whether that’s you going to the pharmacy or simply phoning them.
Feeling unwell? We’re here to guide you to the best care.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s services have evolved, and it’s crucial that you and your loved ones are well-informed and empowered to access the right professional at the right time. It’s also important to know when it’s appropriate to stay at home and care for yourself.
You have a range of support services available that complement and enhance GP care, including advanced nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physiotherapists, vaccination nurses, and community links workers who focus on social and wellbeing support. Additionally, you can access services like dentists and optometrists in your local area.
These professionals are part of your primary care team, serving as your front door to healthcare. To help you feel confident in seeking the right help, we’ve highlighted some of our NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Heroes.
Click on each one below to learn more about their roles, how they can assist you, and how you can reach them.
Remember, it’s also important to utilise the resources available to you when you have a health concern. Before contacting any healthcare professional, consider using online resources, as your symptoms might be manageable at home. Helpful tools include symptom finder on NHS Inform and the NHS 24 app.
