Seafarers Hospital Society has been looking after seafarers’ health for more than 200 years, we have been a force for change in seafarer health throughout our history and we continue to run relevant and innovative health projects and programmes. Here are details of some of the current projects.
Feminine Hygiene Project
SHS launched a pilot project to provide women working at sea with free feminine hygiene products. Making up just 2% of the worldâs maritime workers, most women seafarers are employed in the cruise or ferry sectors. A lack of menstrual hygiene products can contribute to stress and discomfort, and make it challenging for women to perform their duties onboard.
Women seafarers are often confined to a limited supply of menstrual health products, such as tampons and sanitary towels, for the duration of their employment contract. Despite their efforts to prepare accordingly, short notice contract extensions, lengthy voyages, and restrictions on shore leave can all contribute to a lack of access or an insufficient supply of these products. Menstrual products may also be bulky and expensive, making buying and packing large quantities unfeasible for some. Female seafarers may find it difficult to approach management or other crew members for assistance in shippingâs male-dominated workspaces, and cultural factors may also contribute further to this hesitation.
The project is intended to address a gap in many existing facilities and welfare provisions onboard vessels and in ports, which are often designed with the needs of male seafarers in mind and therefore fail to account for the specific healthcare requirements of women. The project is funded by a ÂŁ25,000 grant provided by the TK Foundation and The Seafarersâ Charity and will be launched at the London International Cruise Terminal and at the Port of Tilbury, in partnership with the QVSR London Tilbury Seafarer Centre.
Defibrillator Project
At the Seafarers Hospital Society, we believe that everyone should be able to receive the right healthcare, at the right time, and in the right place.
Figures from the WHO show that heart disease is one of the biggest killers globally, and in the UK, 460 people die every day from heart or circulatory problems. Fishermen feature prominently among those numbers, with heart disease and cardiovascular illness remaining one of the largest killers at sea.
The occurrence of heart attacks, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other similar health-related incidents due to high blood pressure, has increased within the fishing community, as the increasing age of seafarers means common health complications are being taken to sea. That is why we are on a mission to improve the heart health of seafarers across the UK through our ongoing âYour Heart Mattersâ project.
The project aims to prevent heart-related fatalities in fishermen, having identified a growing prevalence of heart disease in coastal communities. The project builds on the success of a pilot project conducted by SHS and the NHS in 2021 and consists of two main elements:
- Placing 200 Defibrillators and 250 first aid kits on fishing boats.
- Quayside health and dental service provision
Placing 200 Defibrillators and 250 first aid kits on fishing boats.
Seafarers often face an extensive wait before emergency treatment arrives, especially when out at sea. Crews onboard fishing vessels will attempt to save their colleague’s lives by performing CPR, but sadly not all efforts are successful. Many deaths at sea remain preventable, and it is our goal to minimise loss of life by providing life-saving equipment to vessels.
Treatment with a life-saving shock from an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a key factor in increasing a personâs chance of survival. Compact, portable, and requiring little maintenance, they are perfect pieces of first aid equipment on board fishing vessels. Seafarers Hospital Society (SHS) will place two hundred AEDâs  and a further 250 first aid kits onboard fishing vessels across the UK.
Training and education are vital aspects of this project. Defibrillator training provides users with the skills and knowledge to operate a defibrillator effectively. Professionals will guide crew through what steps to take in the event a crew member on their vessel or in their vicinity has a cardiac arrest.
This includes how to identify a cardiac arrest, how to use a defibrillator and how to administer additional first aid techniques. Training includes both theoretical and practical aspects and is provided in groups. The more people we can train to be confident with emergency procedures and basic first aid training, in addition to the provision of lifesaving equipment for their use, the better chance we have of saving more lives, both at sea and onshore.
Quayside health and dental service provision
The second part of this project focuses on preventative measures, and the need to address the healthcare gap that exists in many coastal communities. The UK Chief Medical Officerâs Annual Report 2021: Health in Coastal Communities (Ref:1) acknowledged that coastal communities have long been overlooked. Therefore, our focus on preventative services works toward improving healthier lifestyles in many coastal towns as we battle against a traditional âman-upâ culture of not asking for help.
Over 50% of UK fishing ports show characteristics of health deprivation, with limited access to health services. The most common diseases being heart, blood pressure and circulation problems (54%), musculoskeletal conditions (41%) and poor hearing or deafness (28%). Furthermore, given their long hours, and the physically strenuous, unpredictable and anti-social nature of their work, UK fatality rates for fishermen are 100 times higher than the general workforce and injuries are common.
Given these unique pressures, fishermen face barriers to receiving timely medical attention. Pre-booking appointments when they are unable to plan for time off causes problems, and current health systems cannot offer enough flexibility. Many fishermen, despite ill health, work through pain or injury exacerbating their condition, increasing the risk of poor, long-term health outcomes in later life. Fishermen are also less likely to take time off to attend routine screening appointments.
That is why we continue to support SeaFit, an initiative dedicated to the health and well-being of fishermen, offering a comprehensive range of health services tailored to their unique needs. SeaFit is run by the Seafarers Hospital Society in conjunction with The Fishermenâs Mission, developing collaborative partnerships with the NHS and statutory and voluntary health organisations bringing healthcare, screening, treatment, and advice to quaysides where fishermen work, providing easier access to healthcare services.
SeaFit aims to take services to the quayside to highlight health risk factors and increase access to targeted support focusing on exercise, diet, weight loss, smoking cessation, drug and alcohol addiction, physiotherapy, psychological therapies, prostate checks, and bowel cancer screening. Additional dental treatment services are provided at selected events through our partnership with DentAid, a dental charity.
Overall project Aims:
- Gaining insight and raising awareness of health issues faced by fishermen.
- Improve the health and well-being of fishermen and their families.
Objectives:Â
- Gaining insight and raising awareness of health issues faced by fishermen.
- Connect with active and retired fishermen to identify gaps and understand barriers to accessing health service provision.
- Gain insight to/from Statutory Health Providers, NHS, GPs, Port Authorities, Harbour Masters, Boat Owners and Staff.
- Raise awareness of what health and wellbeing support is needed.
- Improve the health and well-being of fishermen and their families.
- Providing UK fishermen and their families with free, confidential health treatment and advice.
- Instigate change in traditional behaviours of fishermen who were not accessing health services and ignoring mental and physical health concerns.
- Improve wellbeing by increasing social inclusion opportunities in fishing communities.
Seafarer Fast-track Physiotherapy Expansion Project
Working as a seafarer is one of the UK’s most challenging jobs and the number of work-related injuries is high caused by the physical demands and repetitive nature of work as a seafarer. Time spent at sea means it can be difficult to get treatment, so the Seafarers Hospital Society supports free, fast-track physiotherapy for working seafarers.
Following the Covid-19 Pandemic, it has become increasingly difficult for seafarers to access physiotherapy from the NHS due to the length of waiting lists for NHS treatment.
SHS has been funding fast-track physiotherapy sessions for seafarers but the demand for these has increased significantly. This project will enable us to continue to provide these much needed physiotherapy sessions in order to keep seafarers fit to work at sea. In addition to this to expand the size of our existing functioning Network in order to extend the areas in which the service is offered nationally and to help more seafarers access physiotherapy.
As part of this project SHS will videos featuring preventative exercises to reduce injuries, which seafarers can access online. These will be used online, in conjunction with social media campaigns designed to promote increased musculoskeletal health in seafarers.
Seafit Health Events
The Seafit Programme has successfully conducted 1180 NHS heath checks and more than 500 dental checks for fishermen and their immediate families by taking health services to ports and quaysides. However, there are still many fishermen who are unable to access dental and health services.Â
Working with the Dentaid charity we are taking a mobile health and dental tour to fishing ports in 6 locations: Whitstable, Jersey, Dunbar, Bangor, Aberystwyth and Milford Haven.
SeaFit regularly receives requests as to how to find and access dental treatment. Nationally there is limited provision of NHS dentistry, as highlighted in the recent Healthwatch Portsmouth report and the British Dental Association recording that 9/10 NHS dental practices are unable to offer appointments to new adult patients, in the most extensive survey of patient access ever, as thousands of NHS dentists have left the service since lockdown. Â
A significant barrier when referring into NHS dental services is the length of time it can take to get an appointment. Therefore, immediate and on-going dental needs are not taken care of, leading to worsening oral and mental health, and higher costs.Â
At the health events we fund a mobile dental unit, a fully functional dental surgery, that can provide urgent and emergency dental care to people who do not have their own dentist. We aim to spend 1 to 2 days in each port according to the population of those communities, and where we know there will be a high demand at these locations.Â
Mobile Dental Unit provision:
- Dental examinations
- Oral cancer screening
- Oral health education
- Treatment of any immediate dental problems including:
- Simple tooth extraction
- Fillings
- Hand scale and polish
- Referrals through NHS or private routes if more complex oral surgery is required
In addition to the quayside dental checks and urgent treatment we will provide home education packs with information on maintaining good oral health, tooth brushing, toothbrushes and toothpaste for the family.
We are able to deliver this important service to seafarers thanks to funding and support from Trinity House.
