Pathway and Crisis are in active discussion about opportunities to work more closely together to better address the health needs of people who are homeless, including the prevention of homelessness in health and NHS settings. The Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted once again that homelessness must also be seen as a public health issue, and yet opportunities to resolve homelessness through healthcare systems are routinely missed.
The two organisations are now exploring the options for a merger and a new group structure. This could take the shape of Pathway remaining a separate charity while becoming a subsidiary of Crisis. Details of such an arrangement will be explored over the next few months and include conversations with a variety of our respective stakeholders.
Should these discussions lead to a merger, the overall objective would be to increase our joint impact: on the lives of people using our services; on the spread of inclusion health services and the quality of clinical practice across the NHS; and in wider policy and system change. Both organisations share a vision of the National Health Service delivering world-leading, evidence-based interventions to end homelessness and the suffering and ill health that flow from it.