People experiencing homelessness can repeatedly encounter barriers when accessing healthcare, resulting in incredibly poor health outcomes. In partnership with Pathway, in this report we explore the invisibility of homelessness in NHS data, illustrating the real-life experiences individuals have, and breaking down these experiences into fundamental barriers in the system.
In the report, we also acknowledge the progress that has been made to date in standardising data fields and integration, and make further recommendations organisations should prioritise to make impactful changes to how the healthcare system responds to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Like all vulnerable groups, it is critical that people experiencing homelessness are represented in the data and that their complex needs are identifiable and visible to support focused initiatives. Whilst a lack of data must not be an excuse to abandon initiatives to support inclusion health, health planners must adequately understand the needs of all patient groups to provide the most appropriate care.
Read the full report here.
A year on
Following Pathway’s advocacy, NHS England has added housing status to its Statement of Information on Health Inequalities for the first time. This isn’t just a technical change—it’s a fundamental shift in how the NHS will identify, plan for, and respond to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Their annual report – published last week – highlights how the money CF raised during the partnership was used towards providing essential housing and immigration legal advice to patients of their Pathway Teams.
Rough sleeping has increased by 20% in England over the last year. This means that their teams are seeing more patients in need than ever before. Last year, their eight Pathway Teams supported 4,778 patients facing homelessness – a 41% increase from 2023/24 – and prevented 750 from returning to rough sleeping.
We’re proud to have contributed to this momentum and grateful to aid Pathway in their relentless work to ensure no patient is left unseen.
Client Testimonial
We are enormously grateful to CF for supporting our work on making the case for recording patient housing status in hospital data. Its recent introduction in NHS England’s Statement of Information on Health Inequalities is a vitally important milestone in tackling extreme health inequalities and preventing homelessness.”
Dee O’Connell
Director of Policy and Programmes
About Pathway and CF
Pathway is the UK’s leading homeless and inclusion health charity. They exist to improve the health of people experiencing homelessness and other dimensions of severe social exclusion.
CF has worked with Pathway since 2018, working with them across several projects and fundraising on behalf of the charity, and we are united in our aim to improve health inclusion. This is part of our continued commitment to delivering a societal impact that goes beyond our client work.
