For the fifth year running, Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board (ICB) brought together local healthcare partners at Latitude Festival to promote health awareness, prevention and wellbeing among festival-goers.
Held annually at Henham Park in Suffolk, Latitude is one of the UK’s largest music and arts festivals, attracting around 135,000 visitors over four days. Alongside its music, comedy, theatre and family entertainment programme, the festival provides a valuable opportunity to take healthcare directly into the community, helping people access advice, support and preventative services in an informal setting.
Cancer Support Suffolk’s specialist skin cancer nurses engaged with almost 200 people in a single day, providing advice and education on skin health. Their outreach identified nine lesions of concern, highlighting the value of taking healthcare services directly into community settings.
NHS England pharmacist Sarah Cavanagh (pictured below) encouraged visitors to make use of the on-site vaccination bus. The pioneering Community and School Aged Immunisation Service team at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust delivers a unique and proactive model of vaccine delivery across the entire East of England region. They were quick to embrace the opportunity to help improve access to routine vaccinations throughout the event.
ICB midwife Annabelle Howard was also on hand to provide information and guidance on a range of sexual and maternal health topics, as well as routine vaccinations.
Reflecting on the weekend, Annabelle said: “I was so pleased with the level of engagement from everyone I spoke with. It goes to show that even in festival mode, people are still interested in looking after their health.”
The event brought together partners from across the NHS and voluntary sector to offer a range of health advice and preventative services, demonstrating the benefits of collaborative working to improve access to care outside traditional healthcare settings.
Michael Round from West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provided invaluable on-site support, helping partners work together effectively.
Lucy Archer, Senior Lead Community Pharmacy Commissioning Manager at the ICB, said: “We are extremely grateful for Michael’s contribution and commitment, which helped ensure the success of the event, and our thanks go to all our partners who seized the opportunity to offer vaccinations and invaluable advice to the festival-goers. This collaboration shows the importance of bringing a number of different pop-up healthcare offers together at events such as this.”