Health hub helping farmers catch hidden conditions
BBCA new health hub is helping to diagnose conditions that are often missed as farmers "put their stock before themselves".
The screening centre opens twice a month next to a farmer's market in Wheddon Cross, Somerset, allowing people to access healthcare quickly without the need to visit a GP.
April Bosley, lead nurse at Exmoor Rural Health Hub, said they treated 25 people on the first day and had to send three urgently to hospital due to undiagnosed conditions.
Cattle and sheep farmer Andy Pugsley, who suffered a stroke last year triggered by a cow kick, said: "You've got a hell of a job to see a doctor nowadays and farmers put their stock before themselves."
Pugsley said he was "more inclined to go to the hub than the GP" as it is a faster alternative.
"A lot of farmers I think are a little bit afraid of the unknown. They sort of think, 'well I think this might be a problem with me, but if I go then I know it's a problem with me'," Pugsley added.
The hub is a purpose-built surgery set up right next to Exmoor's Farmers Livestock Market, and run by NHS nurses and physios.
It is one of three of its kind set up at markets in Somerset, and the money was raised by the Exmoor Rural Health Hub through donations, grants from private trusts and the Somerset Community Foundation.
Richard Webber, chairman of the health hub, said that when it first opened farmers were shy to go in.
"We designed this so a farmer could come in this end and walk out the other end without people seeing that he was going in for some treatment," he added.
Farmers can have their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, as well as tests for different types of cancers.
"Because they're out working all day in the sun, we take photographs of their lesions if they've got them, and we've managed to get the photograph looked at by the GP [who] sends them onto the hospitals for referrals," Bosley added.
"We have mental health conversations quite a lot because that is quite big in the farming community and we can signpost on to various agencies."
Ex-farm manager David Powell used the hub to get his blood pressure and sugar levels taken.
"It is so much easier than getting in touch with the doctors," he said.
"You're that busy that you just let it go, think 'oh I can't be bothered today.' Whereas if you come into the market you can come in here, it takes a few minutes."
Roger Webber, from Wheddon Cross, said he wants to see the hub used by the whole farming community.
"Some people forget, in rural communities somebody has to drive somewhere. So many people here rely on somebody else to take them to the doctors.
"I'd like to see the farmers that come regularly bring another, introduce you to the nurses so they feel comfortable to come in on their own free will."
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