GP Surgery in Brighton announces competition winners

Two women from Whitehawk have scooped first prize in a competition set by their local GP surgery. Jade Hewitt, a student at Brighton MET College, and Jess Ayling, craft fanatic and mother of two, each came up with winning designs for Wellsbourne Healthcare’s ‘Design Our Logo’ competition this week.

GP, Dr Christa Beesley said, “We loved both designs. We put it to a staff vote and we decided to make Jess and Jade joint winners. Wellsbourne Healthcare is a new kind of community-led practice and inviting local people to design our logo is just the start. We are excited about what’s next. I want to say a big thank you to all our entrants and congratulations to Jess and Jade.”

Jess, 29, and a resident of Whitehawk, loves to make things with her daughter Ellen, “We entered the competition because we were in lockdown and it was great for the kids to get into. So we got out our craft machine and came up with the design. We are really happy it will now be used”

Jade, 19, is studying Graphic Design at Brighton MET College and also lives in Whitehawk. “I was inspired to enter because of my passion for design. I hope it will be my career. It is also really nice to give back to my community. Plus, who doesn’t want cake”

Jade and Jess will each receive a homemade cake as their prize, baked just for them by the staff at Wellsbourne Healthcare. Jade’s favourite? “I’m quite partial to classic vanilla”. For Jess and Ellen, “It’s got to be chocolate, no question”

Wellsbourne Healthcare CIC opened as a new GP surgery in East Brighton in April 2018. As a Commuity Interest Company as well as a GP practice, Wellsbourne invests its funds in the local community and relies on partnerships with other local community groups.

Dr Beesley says, “The people of East Brighton have had it too hard for too long. The general health of the population here is much worse than other parts of the City, and COVID-19 is likely to hit us hardest too. The surgery has stayed open throughout. We are seeing most patients by video calls and that’s working really well. The staff at the practice have been brilliant and we are overwhelmed by the support from local residents and volunteers. Before lockdown began, we’d started work on a community garden and our mental health worker was doing drop-in session at the foodbank. Many of our staff live locally and we rely on our partnerships with local groups. The people of East Brighton have the same rights to good health as everyone else. The situation won’t change overnight but we are seeing signs of things getting better.”

Last month, the Health Foundation[1] released data proving people living in the most deprived areas are at far higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. To make things worse, higher levels of underlying conditions puts them at further risk of the most severe outcomes. This news came on top of a report in February, from Professor Sir Michael Marmot of the Institute of Health Equity, that showed inequalities in health had actually got worse in the last 10 years. More people, especially women, are getting sick at a younger age and dying earlier. And the gap between the healthiest and sickest is getting bigger, not smaller.

Wellsbourne Healthcare was featured in Sir Michael’s report as an example of how to address such injustices. Experts agree that health bosses, local authorities, GPs, schools and local people all need to work together. Inequalities in health are unfair and need fixing. Most important is for local people to be able to say what matters most to them. And that is exactly what Wellsbourne Healthcare is doing, one step at a time.

[1] https://www.health.org.uk/publications/long-reads/will-covid-19-be-a-watershed-moment-for-health-inequalities