15 years ago, my colleagues and I held a party in Catford to celebrate the launch of the first time bank in a UK health centre.
The idea was to make mutual support possible among patients, their families and their neighbours, and I wanted to see if it would work in the UK. I was working for the New Economics Foundation at the time, and we teamed up with one of the Rushey Green doctors, Richard Byng.
He was worried about how little he was able to do for patients for whom pills were not really an adequate, sustainable solution; those who were isolated, with long-term depression and a range of other conditions where social issues were as important as pharmaceutical ones.
The doctors refer patients they think would benefit, and members stay in touch via coordinators and other members, offering or requesting help.
It works a bit like a babysitting circle. When you help someone out, often with something very simple – lifts, gardening, phone support – you earn time, and when you need help yourself, you spend time. If you need companionship, or a lift to the shops or the surgery, or even someone to phone you, the time bank can sort it out.
[For more of this story, written by David Boyle, go to http://www.theguardian.com/hea...long-term-conditions]
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