Partnership work to support rough sleeping wins award
A Joined Up Care Derbyshire First Contact Rough Sleeper Paramedic is celebrating after recently picking up a Community Heroes Award at the MJ Awards for Local Government.
Tracey Cunningham is funded by the Integrated Care Board (ICB), but employed by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) as a First Contact Rough Sleeper Paramedic, and is part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) that supports people who are sleeping rough in Derby City.
The Rough Sleeper MDT is part of the Derby City Multi-Agency Rough Sleeper Hub (MARSH) and provides intensive support to people who are sleeping rough. Tracey works directly with people who are sleeping rough to triage, treat and enable them to access the services they need.
The interventions that Tracey has delivered have led to a reduction in the need for people to be unnecessarily conveyed by Ambulance to A+E and a reduction in inappropriate presentations at A+E. She has also supported wider public health programmes including delivering Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations to people who are sleeping rough.
At the MJ Awards for Local Government on 24 June, Tracey won the Community Heroes award in recognition of the incredible work that she does with a population of the community who find it difficult to access support and treatment.