While the provision of housing is the most effective way to protect the health of homeless people, there are a number of other actions that also need to be taken to safeguard such vulnerable groups, a major symposium has been told.

The Irish Street Medicine Symposium, which took place in Dublin at the weekend, is an annual event that brings together health and social care workers, academics, policy makers, planners and service users.

The aim is to improve health outcomes for vulnerable groups, such as homeless people, drug users, migrants and prisoners.

While participants agreed that housing is key, they also reached consensus on a number of actions that are necessary to safeguard these groups. The symposium called on the Government to support the implementation of a number of actions including:

-Nutrition - the provision of high-protein and high-calorie meals and snacks as a standard for homeless people staying at night shelters and sleeping rough, in order to avoid malnutrition. Nutritional standards also need to be developed and monitored for homeless services and direct provision centres

-Rough sleeper health - the development and resourcing of an interagency task force to plan and implement a response to protect the health of people who choose to stay out in extreme weather

-Migrant health care - access to professional interpreting services for patients without English who are attending primary care services

-Accommodation to protect physical and mental health - this could include a number of ideas such as emergency accommodation that is accessible to homeless people 24 hours a day. Currently, some homeless services close during the day forcing homeless people to wander the streets, which has the potential to further compromise their health. Another idea is the expansion of supported accommodation with appropriately trained staff for homeless people with enduring mental illness.

The event was hosted by Safetynet Primary Care, which is a medical charity that delivers quality care to those marginalised in society without access to healthcare. It took place at Trinity College's Institute of Population Health in Tallaght.

"We changed the format of the event this year so that participants could work together to unpack the complex issue, and bring solutions to the table if we are to redress the worsening homeless crisis," explained Safetynet's general manager, Dr Fiona O'Reilly.

For more information on Safetynet Primary Care, click here