New Community Health Bus hits the road in Â鶹´«Ã½ Published on: 21 November 2023 A new purpose-built Community Health Bus, staffed by Â鶹´«Ã½ Pharmacy students, has been launched in the city. The bus provides a range of health services, including blood pressure checks, cholesterol monitoring, diabetes advice, health signposting and more, for adults aged 18 and over. The services are being provided by a partnership between Â鶹´«Ã½ GP Services, the GP Federation for the city, and Â鶹´«Ã½’s School of Pharmacy. It will be staffed by qualified nurses, Â鶹´«Ã½ pharmacy students and Northumbria University nursing students. Community Health Bus Tackling health inequalities The focus for the service is tackling health inequalities and making healthcare and health information more accessible in the city. A community health outreach service has been running since October this year with great success, with people visiting venues across the city including Â鶹´«Ã½ Central Library, The Beacon on Westgate Road, Walker Activity Dome, and the Bangladeshi Community Centre in Elswick. Dr Hamde Nazar, Senior Lecturer at Â鶹´«Ã½ School of Pharmacy, said: “This is a great initiative. “Undergraduate students have this opportunity to practice the skills they’ll be needing in the future careers, work within a multidisciplinary team, and provide services to local communities that need them most. “We are really looking forward to working together on the bus around the city to increase access to care and reach even more people.” Services being provided are: Opportunistic health check-ins Cholesterol Height/Weight/BMI Blood Pressure check Alcohol reduction advice and referral Diabetic risk score and advice on how to reduce it Smoking status/onwards referral, for those looking to stop smoking Community Pharmacy onwards referral (CPCS) Walking stick ferrule replacement Health information and advice and an opportunity to speak to a qualified general practice nurse Emily Maughan, Head of Clinical Services at Â鶹´«Ã½ GP Services, said: "We’re really excited to get out and about and on the road in our new purpose-built health bus. “We know how important it is making sure that everyone who lives in Â鶹´«Ã½ is given access to the health services that they need, and this is an important step in adapting our health and care delivery to reach those that need it most, getting out into the community. “We’re incredibly pleased to be working with Â鶹´«Ã½ School of Pharmacy on our Community Health Services, with the help of Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, Northumbria University and lots of other charities and groups in the city. “It’s a great example of how organisations are working together to keep the people of Â鶹´«Ã½ healthy and well.” Bus locations The bus will be visiting a variety of locations in the city from today, 20 November, including Morrison’s in Byker, Eldon Square, Â鶹´«Ã½ Bangladeshi Community Centre, Asda in Benwell, Aldi in Walker and West End Mosque. The bus has been named ‘Monty’ by Willow aged 8 from Fenham in Â鶹´«Ã½, who won a competition to name the bus. For more information on when and where the bus will be visiting, see the NGPS website at: (L-R) Emily Maughan and Dr Hamde Nazar Share: Latest News Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Student leader drives misogyny law change A Â鶹´«Ã½ student leader has helped change the law after creating a petition to make misogyny a hate crime, which gathered over 114,000 signatures, prompting action in Parliament. published on: 12 June 2026 Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ see construction of new Castle Leazes The Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ and other key stakeholders have become an indelible part of new student accommodation at Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Castle Leazes. published on: 12 June 2026 Facts and figures
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