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Specialist GP healthcare models shown to help care for homeless more effectively than regular services

Integration effectiveness and cost of different models of primary health care providion for people who are homeless an evaluation study cover

A study comparing different models of primary health care provision for homeless people, has found regular GP services struggle to provide levels of care seen at specialist health services.

Experts at King’s College London and the University of Surrey led the NIHR-funded HEARTH study. It is the largest of its kind in the UK and involved 363 single homeless people in England. The results are published in the journal Health and Social Care Delivery Research (opens new window).

Researchers compared four models of primary care services across 10 sites:

  • Specialist health centres for people who are homeless
  • Mobile homeless health teams
  • Specialist GP services (regular GP practices with specific services for homeless people)
  • Regular GP practices (with no specialist services for homeless people)