A nurse has been recognised with a Community Pride Award for her work to help the homeless in York.

Ann Warriner has been named Health Service Hero, sponsored by Latimer by Clarion Housing Group.

For over five years she has been helping homeless people in the city. Ann and her team at York Medical Group have broken down barriers for homeless people to access healthcare.

The practice discovered that the only way to provide care to these patients was to reach out to them themselves. 

It now administers GP and nursing care to 280 homeless patients as well as others in vulnerable accommodation and is running a three-hour homeless clinic at a York hostel every fortnight.

“The problem of homelessness is quite big and it’s getting bigger,” said Ann. “There’re more and more homeless people than we realise. It’s vital to provide them with health care they can access.”

Ann works with organisations across York, including Changing Lives.

“It’s a big team effort,” she said.

After receiving the award, Ann said: “It’s lovely, it’s really nice to be recognised.”