Rosemary Ferguson, Practice Nurse at Clyde Road Surgery, finds it useful to have Deb Tooby, a Partnership Community Worker (PCW) based at Presbyterian Support, available as a community support for patients.

"Having Deb available in her PCW role is a great help to our surgery," says Rosemary. "So many of our patients have no relatives or friends and are isolated in the community."

Having Deb to refer patients to "enables patients to be supported and linked into the many community services and resources that are available," Rosemary adds. "I then feed back the outcomes for patients to Rosemary which creates a collaborative approach to patient care."

Rosemary considers that it is cost effective in the long-term and better recovery is achieved faster if patients can be supported to improve and sustain good levels of health in the community. Deb's involvement substantially improves outcomes for patients.

Both Rosemary and Deb referred to their shared ethical standards of practice in relation to ensuring patients' consent and full participation when making choices about the supports they access. As Deb points out, this approach to their work with patients ensures that "relationships based on trust are able to develop," which is key to creating a vehicle for successful outcomes.