Katie is the new Personalised Care Team Lead

 The team includes Social Prescribers, Care Coordinators and Health and Well-being Coaches who all help patients with Health and Wellbeing, Care and Social advice at surgeries including Lakeside at Yaxley and New Queen Street and two independent surgeries; Wansford and Old Fletton.

Katie joined Yaxley as a Care Coordinator in 2022 after completing her BA Hons Degree in Psychosocial Studies and Master’s degree in Psychology BPS accredited. She said: ‘Care coordinators work mostly with the elderly, both within their homes and in care homes and can help with issues such as Frailty and Dementia. However as my role expanded, I was completing a lot of the surgeries reviews for Cancer Care, Depression, Dementia and Learning Disabilities. My favourite part of the role is being that central point of contact, whether that is offering support and guidance, making referrals, or simply being someone to talk to about worries and concerns. Knowing that someone can walk away from a consultation and feel like a weight has been lifted for them, is my main goal! 

‘I have a good understanding of all of the Personalised Care Roles and being the Lead is a new challenge. I was encouraged to apply as I am really passionate about Health and Wellbeing and am also a Mental Health First Aider for Lakeside, plus my qualifications in Psychology also play a part in this. Social prescribers can provide social and emotional support around Finances, Housing, Mental Health and more, while Health and Wellbeing Coaches play a vital role in the management of long-term conditions such as Diabetes, supporting patients with weight management and more.'

She will combine her new role, overseeing a team of twelve, with still being patient facing one day a week: ‘Our team’s workload is always increasing as clinicians and patients can see the benefits of what we do as a team. The best part of the role is helping people as well as working with such great colleagues. I’m looking forward to supporting the team going forward as well as patients. As a team, we are always looking for ideas to create projects to benefit patients and the wider community. We recently ran a Digital Inclusion Project to assist patients in accessing the surgery digitally and Pet Therapy sessions at Care Homes. We are also continuing to work with our former colleague, Liam, who is now part of the Integrated Neighbourhood team. We all provide a wide range of services to help our patients, colleagues and communities and I look forward to continuing the great work that Liam started.’

Published: Mar 18, 2024