An audit into homeless families in temporary accommodation

This article describes a clinical audit project undertaken in a number of hostels providing temporary housing for homeless families and individuals in Hinckley, Leicestershire. The audit, carried out over a 6-week period, aimed to collect information about the health and social needs of the residents in the hostels to determine whether an on-site dedicated health visiting service would be of any benefit to them. Family members housed in three council-run hostels were interviewed and a detailed questionnaire was completed. This was used to gather information about the facilities in the hostels, the nutritional and mental status and health and social needs of the residents, the uptake of childhood immunizations and child health surveillance. It also provided information about the resident families' contact with their family health visitor. Families were living in cramped conditions with shared facilities and no safe play areas for their children. The audit clearly demonstrated that the residents living in the hostels had a range of health problems similar to those described in the literature about the homeless. As a result of the audit, a number of recommendations were made which are discussed in this article.