Arch Healthcare

• Visiting the surgery
• Opening times
• Meet the team
• Register with Arch

Read on for more information about our surgery, our history in Brighton, and what we do.

1. A GP surgery offering clinical appointments – we have a relatively small number of patients, many of whom are known to us by name. We offer longer appointment times, and a high proportion of same day appointments, in order to fit in with our patients’ needs. the surgery can be used as a “care of” address, for patients to receive mail, and also as a starting point, to register with other support services. All our surgery staff, from the reception team, through to our GPs and nurses, are highly experienced, trained, and equipped to support our patients effectively. e.g. Proactive support from the moment patients walk in the door: our reception team have extensive knowledge of services throughout the city, and support patients to access these. They also provide seasonal comforts – e.g. warm clothes in winter, sunscreen, water and hats in summer.
2. An in-reach service to Royal Sussex County hospital. The aim of our hospital in-reach team is to improve health outcomes by identifying people admitted to hospital whilst experiencing homelessness, and supporting them to stay in hospital for the duration of the required treatment, managing the time of their discharge, registering them with a GP if needed, liaising with housing services to ensure no-one is discharged onto the streets, making referrals to services like Adult Social Care, Integrated Nursing Team, Justlife and the substance misuse service who all help support people once they are discharged back to the community. Part of the service involves providing patients with “dignity packs” (pyjamas, changes of clothes, toiletries, magazines), in order to make their hospital stay bearable and comfortable, making them more likely to stick with their treatment.
3. An engagement service offering non-clinical support to patients. The Justlife Heath Engagement Team work proactively, enabling patients to obtain and maintain suitable accommodation and access health and community services. Their intensive work is vital as they support people to build their confidence, take ownership of their situation, improve their health and engage positively with the wider community
4. Community Outreach: Our dedicated outreach team exists improve access to our services, reaching people who might not otherwise engage with Arch Healthcare. The team has built up links with hostels, day centres, and street outreach services, in order to offer healthcare at those locations. this team has built up trust with key services, in order to reach people who may not have engaged in looking after their health for extensive periods of time.
5. Arch provides specialist health and clinical input in a variety of strategic areas for the city, working closely with other healthcare providers, third sector partners, the city council and NHS Sussex. We are a lead partner on the health improvement project Common Ambition, which brings the voice of lived experience into the heart of improvements to the homeless healthcare system. Arch also offers a yearly homeless health conference for frontline workers in the city, and provides regular training for medical students, hospital staff (clinical and not), and frequent training opportunities for frontline workers across the city, skilling them up to spot common health conditions and how to support clients with these.

In all of our work, we are driven by our Vision and Values. These drive us to provide the best possible service to our patients, and to continue to improve our practice.

Arch is part of the East and Central Brighton Primary Care Network (PCN). This is a collaboration between 8 local GP surgeries, to share expertise and resources, and to develop new services, according to the needs of the neighbourhood.

Our PCN is part of the larger Brighton and Hove Federation. This organisation brings together PCNs and builds on their collaborative work, looking at the bigger picture and developing new models of care for the city.

As a new start up, the Arch board chose the model of Community Interest Company (CIC) as the best vehicle to deliver the kind of care required. According to the CIC Regulator website “A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a limited company, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage.” This model is the best best fit for Arch Healthcare because it has all the rigour of running a professional business but all its assets are ‘locked’ and cannot be used for any other purpose than to benefit of the community which the organisation exists to support. Regardless of any surplus which is made by the company no dividends are paid to the directors. Importantly as a social enterprise Arch is entitled to apply for grants from various trusts, receive direct charitable donations and raise additional cash through trading. These multiple income streams are vital in building a surgery experience beyond the limits of commissioned services.

Arch Healthcare provides NHS services on behalf of NHS England.