Nicky Tanner

Lead Nurse

Homeless Health Service, Central London Community Healthcare

I have been a registered nurse for twenty years, thirteen of which have been spent looking after rough sleepers in the west end of London.  I am particularly interested in poverty and homelessness having experienced both of these as a child and young adult.  I am the lead nurse for the Central London Community Healthcare, Homeless Health Service which is a team of nurses and counsellors working from daycentres, specialist GP surgeries and on street outreach.  Our primary focus is to reduce the thirty year disparity in lifespan between homeless and homed people.  We do this by making contact with people that have ‘lost touch’ with healthcare, treating their primary presenting problem and working to re-establish a meaningful and lasting relationship with the NHS.  We also screen for public health, treat minor illnesses/injuries, prescribe medicine where possible and try to solve any health or access problem that the person brings to us.