The “third sector” of medicine represents a crucial component of our healthcare system here in the UK. But what exactly is the third sector and why is it so vital to the NHS?

Primary care is often the first point of contact for most people and would include places like GP surgeries, dentists, pharmacies and opticians. Secondary care providers are usually specialists in their field and patients may have been referred to them by from their primary care, usually somewhere like a hospital for more specialised care. 

And finally the third sector of medicine which is where we sit at NCIM. It encompasses organisations that are normally voluntary, charity or not-for-profits. These organisations focus on delivering healthcare services with the aim of improving public health and supporting communities, especially underserved or marginalized populations. This is something we are especially passionate about here at NCIM with our range of education and community driven projects as well as our membership programme, the cost of which feeds back to us subsidising low cost appointments for those who need it through our clinical services.

The third sector’s contribution is crucial to the NHS to help relieve some of the strain on services by providing additional services and support, particularly in areas like mental health, palliative care, and community health. The third sector is also often able to address complex, chronic or long term needs through wraparound services that the NHS alone may not be able to provide.

The third sector also often addresses the gaps left by our healthcare system, by offering holistic patient centered services, which might not be readily available on the NHS. For example, at NCIM we offer a mistletoe service for cancer patients used alongside conventional cancer treatments to help support patients through their cancer journey. Mistletoe therapy is no longer offered free of charge on the NHS, so patients can chose to complement their conventional cancer treatments using our services from the third sector.  

As a social enterprise we can also be awarded grants that we use to deliver services in our community, as we try to make integrative healthcare accessible to all and improve the lives of our communities. The projects we undertake are often used to provide personalised and long-term support, especially for the vulnerable such as the elderly, less-abled or those with mental health conditions. Last year we completed several community-based projects with funding from a Bristol based charity, St Monica’s Trust, to support adults over 55’s helping to reintegrate them back into society following the isolation of the covid-19 pandemic. On the other end of the scale we have also had funding from the Earthsong Foundation to help delivery Food for Mood courses for students in both the University of Bristol and Bath.

Increasingly, the third sector is also starting to work in formal partnerships with the NHS, integrating services to improve patient outcomes. For example, hospices, which are often run by charities, work closely with NHS staff to provide end-of-life care. These partnerships can create a more comprehensive and coordinated healthcare system. At NCIM, we have worked on several occasions with local healthcare services or GP’s delivering our community outreach projects to their patients deemed most vulnerable or at need.

After leaving the NHS, one of the reasons I started a not-for-profit social enterprise is that I feel strongly that the third sector is vital to the NHS and the overall healthcare in this country. Not only does the third sector support, it also supplements and enhances the delivery of healthcare making it available to all. The focus is always on patient-centered care and it fills crucial gaps that the NHS alone may struggle to cover. This collaborative relationship helps improve overall health outcomes and builds a more resilient healthcare system, which with a growing population with increasingly demanding and chronic needs, is more crucial than ever.

Dr Elizabeth Thompson