Putting your HAT on

Abstract

One in three deaths of people who are homeless are preventable. The morbidity and mortality of people who are homeless is shocking. With people who are homeless having a higher rate of emergency department attendance and hospital admission compared with the general population, we have a unique opportunity to change their health and their life.This led to the design and implementation of the Homeless Assessment Tool (HAT) at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The HAT is an opportunistic prompt to assist doctors in providing the best care for patients who are homeless upon (or during) hospital admission.Teaching sessions on the health of people who are homeless and the HAT were given to doctors and nurses. Feedback commended the HAT's comprehensiveness, ease of use, and utility in assessing and managing a patient who is homeless.As such, the HAT is accepted as a standard by the Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health, further demonstrating its merits in assessing patients who are homeless.