First Contact Clinical

What First Contact Clinical does

First Contact Clinical is a UK Community Interest Company (CIC) and social enterprise headquartered in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, that delivers social prescribing and public health workforce development services. Its core offering is the South Tyneside Social Prescribing Service, in which 28 social prescribers organised into four autonomous 'Home Teams' are embedded across all 21 GP practices in South Tyneside via NHS ARRS funding, with a fourth team working in NHS secondary care and community pathways (Work Well, Waiting Well, Healthy Homes, Tobacco Addiction Support for people with serious mental illness). The technology stack is non-software: the operating platform is a relational, person-centred methodology built on Motivational Interviewing, the COM-B model, trauma-aware practice, solution-focused techniques, the proprietary SCIP© (Share, Compare, Ideas, Plan) co-production process, and the Dialog Patient Reported Outcome Measure for outcomes tracking.

The commercial model is almost entirely commissioned rather than transactional. Revenue is generated through NHS ARRS reimbursement for embedded link workers, South Tyneside Council commissioning of the A Better U workforce development programme (which is free at the point of use for the South Tyneside workforce), additional NHS pathway contracts, and a small bespoke training offering for external organisations at negotiated pricing. The company cites material outcome data (55% reduction in GP appointments, 44% reduction in A&E attendances, 41% 4-week CO-validated quit rates) and academic validation through Fuse, and is led by founder-CEO Dave Julien and Director of Operations Susan Gill.

Name

First Contact Clinical

Legal name

First Contact Clinical Community Interest Company

Website

https://firstcontactclinical.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

First Contact Clinical is a UK Community Interest Company that delivers NHS-commissioned social prescribing and the A Better U workforce development programme in South Tyneside, embedding 28 social prescribers across all 21 local GP practices and training local professionals in behaviour change skills.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Prescribing and Public Health Workforce Development

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Other Individual and Family Services (62419)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Primary Care for Underserved Populations (e.g., migrant, homeless, refugee clinics) (HLAFAGAN)

Keywords

• Social prescribing services
• Behaviour change training
• Public health workforce
• Community health support
• Patient activation coaching

Headquarters

HQ city

South Shields

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. NHS and Local Authority Commissioning: Primary revenue from commissioned services including ARRS-funded (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) social prescribing teams embedded in GP practices. Commissioned by NHS and South Tyneside Council to deliver public health workforce development and social prescribing services across South Tyneside.
2. Training and Workforce Development: Delivers 'A Better U' public health training programme commissioned by South Tyneside Council. Training is free for those who work or volunteer in South Tyneside, suggesting grant-funded model. Also offers fee-based bespoke training packages to other organisations.
3. Healthcare Pathway Services: Delivers multiple commissioned pathways including Secondary Care support, Work Well, Waiting Well, Healthy Homes, and Tobacco Addiction Support. Services work within specific NHS and local authority commissioned arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

First Contact Clinical delivers a South Tyneside social prescribing service in which trained Link Workers provide one-to-one and group-based personalised care and support to people with non-medical health and social needs, embedded across all 21 GP practices and multiple NHS secondary care, housing, and public health pathways. Alongside this it delivers the A Better U workforce development programme, training health, social care, and VCSE professionals and volunteers in behaviour change skills, motivational interviewing, and public health topics under commission from South Tyneside Council. Services are grounded in evidence-based behaviour change frameworks and a proprietary relational working approach.

Product overview

First Contact Clinical is a Community Interest Company delivering social prescribing and public health workforce development services in South Tyneside, UK. The company operates a single integrated service model combining the South Tyneside Social Prescribing Service (its core offering) with a complementary A Better U Workforce Development Programme. These two main offerings work together: the Social Prescribing Service provides direct person-centred support to individuals through Link Workers across multiple commissioned pathways (Primary Care, Secondary Care, Work Well, Waiting Well, Healthy Homes, Tobacco Addiction), while the A Better U Programme trains professionals and volunteers across the system to develop behaviour change skills. Additional products include Behaviour Change Skills Training, Enabling Healthy Change Training, the Healthy Homes Programme, MECC for Mental Health training, and e-learning modules. The company uses Dialog as its standardized outcome measurement tool. All services are grounded in relational approaches, motivational interviewing, and evidence-based behaviour change frameworks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• A Better U: A tiered modular public health training and workforce development programme for professionals and volunteers in South Tyneside, aligned to the A Better U public health framework.
• Healthy Homes Programme
• Smoking SMI Pathway

Products and services

• South Tyneside Social Prescribing Service A social prescribing service delivering personalised care and support to people with non-medical health and wellbeing needs across South Tyneside. First Contact Workers provide one-to-one and group-based support across four Home Teams embedded in all 21 GP practices and multiple NHS secondary care, housing, and public health pathways (Primary Care, Secondary Care, Work Well, Waiting Well, Healthy Homes, Tobacco Addiction), helping individuals build confidence, manage long-term conditions, and connect with community resources.
• A Better U Workforce Development Programme A tiered modular public health training programme commissioned by South Tyneside Council, equipping professionals and volunteers with skills to deliver behaviour change conversations and public health interventions across topics including mental health, smoking cessation, cancer awareness, and healthy homes. Delivered as bookable open courses across South Tyneside and as bespoke training packages for external organisations.
• Behaviour Change Skills Training Specialist behaviour change skills training drawing from Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Practice, and trauma-aware approaches. Equips professionals with tools to build rapport, enhance motivation, and guide individuals toward achievable health and wellbeing goals.
• Enabling Healthy Change Training A two-day training programme based on evidence-based frameworks including the COM-B model and Motivational Interviewing. Covers foundations of behaviour change, mindsets, active listening skills (OARS), solution-focused techniques, and the SCIP© process for co-producing action plans with clients.
• Healthy Homes Programme A home-based assessment and support service addressing housing-related health determinants including damp, cold, clutter, fuel poverty, and social isolation. Delivers personalised healthy home plans through home visits and connections to supporting services, with evidence of £71,245.59 potential cost saving per annum for 48 households.
• Making Every Contact Count (MECC) for Mental Health Training A training programme developed with RSPH and NHSE to upskill frontline workers in having purposeful mental health conversations using a Making Every Contact Count approach, integrating mental health promotion into everyday interactions across the North of England.
• A Better U E-Learning Modules Online e-learning modules covering Cancer Awareness, Carer Awareness, Healthy Homes, Loneliness and Isolation, and Oral Health Awareness, accessible through a dedicated A Better U e-learning website with individual learner accounts for booking and accessing materials.
• Smoking Cessation Pathway for People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) A specialised social prescribing smoking cessation pathway for people with serious mental illness (SMI), delivered by trained specialty Social Prescribing Link Workers providing intensive support including financial incentives and free vapes. Achieves 41% CO confirmed quit rate at 4 weeks and 30% at 12 weeks among participants, with 83% of participants from IMD 1-2 wards.

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, major and minor.

• South Tyneside CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2024Primary commissioning partner for public health workforce development. Commissioned to deliver the A Better U training programme across South Tyneside. Also commissioning partner for social prescribing services.
• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 November 2024Collaborated with DHSC and Royal Society for Public Health on launching 'Ten Public Health Tips for the Social Care Workforce' eLearning resource. Represented on expert reference group as an expert by experience.
• NHS (South Tyneside)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary care teams funded through ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme). Services embedded in GP practices and hospital pathways. Multiple commissioned pathways including secondary care, work well, waiting well.
• Fuse (Academic Collaboration)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration with Fuse (Research institute) on evaluating the Healthy Homes service. Partnership validates approach through research and evidence. Evaluation confirmed small changes make significant impact.
• Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on MECC (Making Every Contact Count) for Mental Health across the North project. Susan Gill (Director of Operations) trained as Lead Trainer for RSPH. Contributed to national mental health training programme.
• 21 GP Practices in South TynesidecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary Care Teams embedded across all 21 GP practices in South Tyneside. First Contact Workers integrated as part of the primary care team. Three teams aligned to three PCNs.
• VCSE Partners (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with VCSE sector for referrals and service delivery. Accepts referrals from VCSE partners for Healthy Homes and other pathways. Working with community organisations across South Tyneside.
• South Tyneside and Sunderland Foundation TrustmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNHS Foundation Trust partnership for secondary care pathways including emergency care, long COVID/breathlessness clinic, cardiac rehab, and targeted lung health checks.
• Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation TrustmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMental health trust partnership for integrating social prescribing with mental health services and supporting people with severe mental illness.
• Citizens Advice South TynesideminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReferral partner for connecting clients to financial advice and support services.
• Integrated Neighbourhood TeamsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWorking alongside community health teams and integrated care team roles to provide holistic, person-centred support for people with complex needs.
• Young Health Ambassadors (South Tyneside)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with young people on insights into health behaviours. Young Health Ambassadors shared thoughts, feelings and opinions on alcohol, smoking, cannabis and sex to inform training programmes.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Turning Point: One of the UK's largest health and social care providers, delivering substance misuse, mental health, learning disability, and social prescribing services under NHS and local authority contracts. Comparable to First Contact Clinical as a CIC-equivalent mission-driven provider with embedded NHS service delivery and behaviour change expertise, but at materially greater national scale.
• Change Grow Live (CGL): Large UK charity providing substance misuse, mental health, criminal justice, and social prescribing services across hundreds of sites. Overlaps directly with First Contact Clinical's behavioural change, substance misuse heritage, and social prescribing delivery, but operates as a much larger national incumbent.
• Vita Health Group: UK provider of NHS-commissioned mental health, IAPT, musculoskeletal, and wellbeing services. Comparable to First Contact Clinical as a behaviour change and NHS-commissioned services provider, but operating at significantly greater scale across multiple NHS regions with a more diversified service portfolio.
• Humankind: UK health and social charity delivering drug, alcohol, mental health, housing, and social prescribing services across the North of England. Comparable to First Contact Clinical in its North East footprint, social prescribing model, and behaviour change expertise, though at materially greater organisational scale and regional reach.

Direct peers

• Pathway: UK healthcare charity delivering medical care and advocacy for people experiencing homelessness and severe social exclusion. Highly comparable to First Contact Clinical in its focus on underserved populations (IMD 1-2), primary care integration, and the social determinants of health framing, though Pathway focuses specifically on homeless populations rather than broader community deprivation.
• Elemental Software: UK-based social prescribing digital platform used by PCNs, GP practices, and local authorities to manage link worker referrals, reporting, and outcome measurement. Closest direct peer for the technology, measurement, and PCN-embedded service model that First Contact Clinical operates, and a potential partner or competitor for the outcome-measurement infrastructure underpinning its services.
• Bromley by Bow Health: East London community health provider and social enterprise delivering integrated primary care, social prescribing, and health coaching in one of the UK's most deprived boroughs. Directly comparable to First Contact Clinical as a community-interest model combining primary care embeddedness, behaviour change, and a focus on wider determinants of health.
• Togetherall: UK mental health peer support platform commissioned by NHS trusts, universities, and employers. Comparable to First Contact Clinical's mental health and behaviour change focus, with overlapping NHS commissioning channels and outcome measurement practices, though delivered via a digital-first model rather than embedded local teams.
• ICS Health & Wellbeing: UK social enterprise delivering NHS Health Checks, lifestyle interventions, and behaviour change programmes commissioned by local authorities and the NHS. Closely comparable to First Contact Clinical's A Better U training, behaviour change coaching, and public health intervention model, with similar ARRS-adjacent funding mechanics and local authority commissioning.
• Health Exchange: West Midlands-based CIC delivering health coaching, social prescribing, and wellbeing services commissioned by local authorities and the NHS. Directly comparable to First Contact Clinical in mission, scale, commissioning model, and behaviour change methodology, with a similarly embedded approach to primary care and community settings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FirstConClin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Contact Clinical