CarePath: Rough Sleeping

The UK Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy is committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and ending it by 2027. With a clear focus on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, the Local Authorities, NHS and Prison services have all been working closely with Public Health England (now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparity and Inequality) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to help towards minimising the physical and mental health issues they face.

Individuals who have been rough sleeping on a long term basis have a significantly higher risk of early death – the average age of death of men is 44 years and women 42 years – and research has shown that 50% of this vulnerable cohort have mental health issues, as well as 42% experiencing alcohol misuse and 41% with drugs misuse issues.

With COVID-19 impacting all our communities, the government launched the “Everyone In” programme to help ensure that emergency accommodation and support was provided to people who were sleeping rough. Together with the DHSC and managed by OHID, additional funding has been made available to local authorities in the form of grants to end rough sleeping.

At ILLY, we focus on making a real difference within the substance misuse sector by delivering and supporting practitioner-led systems that are trusted by our partners within adult and young person’s services across all settings.

In early 2021, ILLY announced that through a competitive tender we had been chosen to work in partnership with OHID and the Local Authorities on the Rough Sleepers Initiative. By listening and working closely with all of our partners, we quickly and efficiently delivered a secure and compliant system that is currently gathering the data and information needed to support this initiative and deliver on the promise.