At includem, when we speak about supporting children, young people and families, we often refer to stickability—our commitment to staying alongside those we support through the highs and the lows.
Often, this brings to mind a worker continuing to reach out to a young person who isn’t ready to engage just yet or adapting how we work with parents and carers to make support more accessible. But stickability doesn’t just show up in our direct relationships with families—it also underpins how we work as an organisation and how we build partnerships.
This innovative service has embedded Family Wellbeing workers in 12 Deep-end GP practices in Glasgow to provide whole family support in an integrated, community-based setting.
Recently, I spoke with one of our Team Managers about how her team has been navigating the realities of delivering a new NHS Family Wellbeing service alongside statutory partners.
What stood out was not just the complexity of the work—but the determination to keep adapting, improving and pushing forward to reach as many families as possible.
Every pivot and every adjustment felt like another example of stickability in action.
Building strong partnerships through communication
Delivering the Family Wellbeing Service means working closely with partners across Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), GP practices, community link workers and programmes such as Thrive Under Five.
That brings huge opportunities—but also complexity.
The team has prioritised consistent, open communication from the outset. In practice, this has meant establishing regular meetings with partners to ensure clarity around referrals, risk, feedback from families and capacity. Rather than letting issues build, they are addressed early—whether that’s a challenge with how support is being delivered or identifying gaps in provision.
This approach has already led to meaningful change. Through ongoing dialogue with partners, the team helped expand access to support from Thrive Under Five to Thrive Under Twelve—meaning more families can now access pantry support and meal packs, including families who were previously not eligible for the support.
Creating trust with families—and between services
In some cases, families are understandably hesitant to engage with certain types of support—particularly around finances. Instead of accepting this as a barrier, the team worked with Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) colleagues to create opportunities for relationship-building.
Family finance workers now shadow includem staff, allowing families to meet with them in a familiar and trusted context. Simple changes—like providing accessible leaflets—also help families better understand what support is available and how it could benefit them.
These small, relational steps are making a big difference in building trust—not just between families and services, but between professionals too.
Clarifying roles and strengthening collaboration
As with any new service, there were initial challenges around role clarity—particularly within GP practices. Some partners were unsure how includem’s Family Wellbeing workers differed from community link workers.
Rather than allowing this to become a sticking point, the team leaned into collaboration. By embedding themselves within GP practices—attending multi-disciplinary team meetings, increasing their presence, and sharing information—they’ve been able to demonstrate the unique value they bring.
The distinction is now clear: while link workers often support individuals, includem takes a whole-family approach.
Importantly, this has strengthened collaboration rather than competition, with regular check-ins between workers ensuring families receive the right support at the right time.
This impact has also been recognised at the highest levels. Following a visit to one of the deep-end GP practices, First Minister John Swinney reflected:
“It was very clear that having a Family Wellbeing Worker working alongside others in the practice, especially the GPs and the Community Link Workers, is making a real impact. It was also important to hear about the challenges involved in such an innovative, multi-service project.”
His reflection reinforces what we are seeing in practice: when services are aligned around families, and when non-clinical support is embedded within trusted community settings, the impact is tangible—for families, for practitioners, and for the wider system.
More recently, Jenni Minto MSP, Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, visited Peat Road Medical Practice in Glasgow, to find out about the work we do to deliver our Family Wellbeing Service and heard about the challenges and the opportunities of providing Whole Family Support through General Practice (WFSGP).
Adapting to demand and managing capacity
Demand for the service has been significant, with waiting lists growing quickly in some GP practices. The team has introduced a triage approach to manage this —ensuring every family is contacted within seven days and supported according to their needs.
For some, this might mean immediate practical support such as food vouchers or meal packs. For others, it may involve longer-term, relationship-based support or referrals to additional services.
This flexible approach allows the team to respond quickly to families in need while still maintaining the depth of support that families need.
Problem-solving in practice
Delivering services within GP settings has also brought practical challenges—particularly around room availability and lone working considerations. The team has responded creatively, adjusting rotas, working in pairs where needed, and making use of community spaces (such as libraries) to ensure families can still be seen safely.
At the same time, they’ve continued to evidence their impact—helping partners understand the difference the service is making to families and the sustainability of other services.
Stickability beyond the individual
What this conversation made clear is that stickability is not just about persistence with individuals—it’s about persistence in systems. It’s about continuing to show up, to communicate, to build relationships, to adapt, and to advocate for better support for families, even when the path isn’t straightforward.
Whether that’s influencing partners, reshaping delivery models, or finding new ways to meet families’ needs, this work reflects a deep commitment to doing what works—not just what was planned.
And ultimately, that’s what stickability looks like in practice: adapting and persevering.
A shifting landscape in primary care
Recent policy announcements have focused on improving access to GP services, including the introduction of new walk-in clinic models designed to reduce waiting times and move away from the pressure of the “8am scramble”, as reported by BBC News. These proposals signal a clear recognition of the pressure facing primary care and the need to improve how people access support.
These developments are welcome. Increasing access points and reducing waiting times is critical for families who need timely support. But they are only one part of the solution.
However, what our work has shown is that access alone is not enough. Through embedding Family Wellbeing Workers directly within GP practices and strengthening partnership working across services, we are already seeing a reduction in demand on GP time.
This points to an important opportunity for policy makers: alongside improving access, there is a need to invest in models that reduce demand in the first place.
By supporting whole families—rather than responding to individual symptoms in isolation—we can address the underlying issues that often lead to repeat GP visits, whether that’s poverty, housing, neurodiversity or mental health challenges.
In one example, a person who had repeatedly attended their GP began engaging with includem instead. With consistent, relationship-based support over nine months, they began to limit their contact with the GP appropriately and focused instead on their community supports.
This is where embedded, relational models of support add real value—not as an alternative to clinical provision, but as a critical part of a more preventative, sustainable system.
As the Scottish Government continues to explore reforms to primary care access, there is a clear case for ensuring that family wellbeing support is not seen as an ‘add-on’, but as core infrastructure within GP practices.
We welcome the Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031, which promises £2.2 million to expand Whole Family Support in General Practice, initially doubling coverage in Glasgow and preparing for expansion to other localities from 2027/28 onwards. We look forward to being able to support more families through this funding and continue our vital work alongside partners in community health settings.
