February’s The Future of Primary Care webinar proved to be one of our most impactful sessions to date, bringing together colleagues from across primary care to explore bold, practical solutions to health inequalities.

We were privileged to welcome Dr Camille Hirons, NHS GP and Vice President of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. In addition to her national leadership role, Dr Hirons serves as Lewisham Clinical & Care Professional Lead and Community of Practice Lead for Lifestyle Medicine and is Founder and Clinical Lead at the Lifestyle Medicine Accelerator.

Dr Hirons delivered a compelling and energising presentation on addressing health inequalities through prevention, partnership, and community-led action. Drawing on her frontline experience as a GP and her system leadership roles, she demonstrated how primary care can move beyond traditional models to proactively reach underserved communities.

A key focus of her presentation was the development of community health hubs, innovative, locally based spaces situated close to GP surgeries. Designed as “one-stop shops” for prevention and early intervention, these hubs offer accessible health checks alongside structured follow-up support and community-led wellbeing activities.

The model is rooted in collaboration. Over a 12-month period, Dr Hirons and her team worked in partnership with 16 community-based organisations and 10 NHS services across 3 NHS Trusts. By breaking down organisational silos and embedding services directly within communities, the hubs created more joined-up and culturally responsive care pathways.

Beyond clinical interventions, the hubs hosted a diverse range of activities designed to promote holistic wellbeing and reduce stigma. These included singing and dancing sessions to foster social connection, HIV stigma workshops to address misinformation and discrimination, and Pilates sessions to encourage movement and physical resilience. This combination of clinical access, prevention, education, and community engagement created trusted spaces where individuals felt empowered to take control of their health.

The results were both measurable and meaningful. Within a year, 678 people were engaged through the hubs, 400 health checks were delivered, and a structured programme of supportive activities was established, demonstrating the power of locally embedded, partnership-driven prevention.

Attendees described the session as inspiring, practical, and solution focused. Dr Hirons’ work illustrated how lifestyle medicine principles, when embedded into primary care and delivered in partnership with communities, can drive real change at scale.

Her message was clear: tackling health inequalities requires moving services closer to people, building strong cross-sector partnerships, and addressing the social and behavioural drivers of health alongside clinical need.

The webinar sparked rich discussion and renewed enthusiasm for collaborative, preventative approaches across the network.

Dr Mohit Venkataram added: “When colleagues truly believe in something, don’t give up. It’s difficult, and it’s never easy — and there will be many moments when you feel like walking away. But if you believe in a cause, lead it. Because every time one cause breaks through, it creates change far beyond itself.”

As we look ahead, February’s session set a powerful tone for what The Future of Primary Care can and should represent: innovative, community-centred care that reduces inequalities and improves outcomes for all.