Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust

The NHS is becoming increasingly proactive. Consultation documents need to go out into local communities, health promotion activities have to be scheduled. The organisation is well aware of the link between access to work and a healthy lifestyle. That’s why Slivers workers can be a double benefit.

In Tower Hamlets, East London, Slivers workers are used to handle tasks such as compiling community packs. As Mark Docherty points out “sometimes we don’t know when we’ll be getting materials that need to be sent out to specific groups. We book Slivers-of-Time Workers as soon as the materials arrive, that way we can get them out of the door the same day.”

Now, the PCT is using Slivers workers for an extensive outreach project. A big anti-smoking drive requires sellers to spend four hours on certain days, in public areas, distributing Help to Quit materials. Again, it’s a way of engaging local people who may not otherwise have been able to work, to keep the general community healthy.