Merseyside residents will be able to access early legal advice in hospital as part of a 'wellbeing hub' designed to support people with complex legal, health and social care needs.
Citizens Advice Wirral, Age UK Wirral, Wirral MIND, Involve North West and Change Grow Live have teamed up to offer wellbeing services to residents at the new Flourish Wellbeing Hub at Victoria Central Hospital in Liscard, Wirral.
Citizens Advice said the hub will offer ‘social prescribing’ services including advice, support services and groups for older people, drug and alcohol support services, and new parent groups.
The hub is being funded by the Ministry of Justice and NHS Property Service National Social Prescribing Scheme. The MoJ’s investment is £135,000 over three years.
Justice minister Lord Bellamy said: ‘Access to targeted and joined-up services as early as possible can make a huge difference to people when they are most in need of a helping hand. This hub will offer much-needed legal support to people in the Wirral in one easy-to-access space, reflecting the range of challenges they may be facing at times of difficulty.’
The ministry said the hub does not mark the first time early legal advice has been piloted in a healthcare setting, but the hub will be the first of its kind in the area.
Carol Johnson-Eyre, chief executive of Citizens Advice Wirral, said that being well is not just about accessing health services ‘but also addressing loneliness, social isolation, addressing issues such as drug and alcohol addictions, getting counselling, accessing advice on welfare rights and other issues and being able to participate in your local community’.
The ministry is piloting legal aid for early legal advice in social welfare law in Manchester and Middlesbrough.
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