Health checks for HGV drivers to combat isolation

Lorry drivers can get health checks at a truck stop to help stay well and combat loneliness among the profession.

A scheme run by the NHS in Somerset sees a nurse head out to the Junction 24 Truck Stop in Bridgwater and offer blood pressure and diabetes checks to local, national and international drivers.

It also offers face-to-face contact for driver who might not socialise a lot on the road, advice on how to stay healthy and how to avoid the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

One of the district nurses for the team, Fay Braddick, said: "We're trying to get people to take control of their health and actually prevent there being a problem."

Braddick said she began running the projectafter her involvement in a similar scheme with farmers at the same location, noticing similarities between farmers and drivers.

"It's quite similar in a way that there's unfortunately high suicide rates. They're both professions where they don't necessarily access health care...they're working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Mental health is really important and we're trying to work with Men's Talk at the moment."

According to the Office for National Statistics, truck drivers show a suicide rate that is 20% higher than the national average which is around 12 deaths for every 100,000 people per year.

Braddick added: "I don't think we put enough emphasis on the importance of social interaction.

"These drivers are spending all day on their own and actually sometimes they might not have seen many people during the day. A lot of them are out of area."

Braddick added drivers can come in for a clinic appointment or they can just turn up.

Darrell Tuitt, a driver from London, said for many of his colleagues getting a health check can be difficult.

"Maybe they are scared of what they might find out - that's the top of the list," he said.

"You're driving for hours all day and come to the end of your shift - you just want to do nothing but get something to eat, chill out, have a shower and go to bed and it's the same thing the following day - so it's mindset really."

Braddick added: "I definitely came in with a preconceived idea of drivers being sedentary, not very active, possibly don't eat very well because of the places they stop at.

"I've been pleasantly surprised and I've definitely gone back on that the longer I've done it."

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