Fielding better healthcare for North Yorkshire's farmers

A recent BBC News article highlighted the mental health pressures facing farmers in North Yorkshire. Many of the experiences shared echoed what farmers told us through our Ploughing through barriers report, including long working hours, isolation, lack of time off and uncertainty about where to go for support. Veterinary surgeon and TV personality Julian Norton (The Yorkshire Vet) spoke openly about the loneliness farmers can experience, reinforcing how important this work already is for our county.

Farming is at the heart of North Yorkshire. It shapes the countryside, puts food on tables and supports the rural economy. But many farmers face daily pressures that affect both their physical and mental health.

Putting farmers' voices at the centre of change

Farmers told us that health services do not always fit around farming life. Taking time off for an appointment can feel unrealistic, and concern about being judged for speaking about mental health is still common.

These issues were reinforced in the BBC News coverage, which highlighted similar pressures across the county.

By sharing your stories, you have ensured these challenges are now firmly on the agenda. Health and care leaders are taking notice and making changes based on what you told us.

Where your feedback makes a difference

Below is how your experiences are already shaping improvements across the county.

Farmers’ walk-in clinics at GP practices

Plans are in place to trial dedicated walk in sessions designed around farmers schedules within these GP practices:

• Hambleton North Primary Care Network, which includes Stokesley Surgery, Great Ayton Health Centre, Mayford House Surgery in Northallerton, and Mowbray House Surgery in Northallerton
• Hambleton South Primary Care Network, which includes Thirsk Health Centre, Lambert Medical Centre in Thirsk, Topcliffe Surgery, and Glebe House Surgery in Bedale
• South Hambleton and Ryedale Primary Care Network, which includes Millfield Surgery, Stillington Surgery, Tollerton Surgery, Terrington Surgery, Pickering Medical Practice and Kirkbymoorside Surgery
• Leyburn Medical Practice, part of Richmondshire Primary Care Network

A farmer walk in clinic is a session where no prior appointment is required and anyone from the farming community can attend for a health check. These clinics will run between November 2025 and January 2026 when farmer workloads ease slightly.

This work began after we published Ploughing through barriers, which explored farmers challenges in detail.

Local care in Selby, on the East Coast and beyond

Healthwatch presentations have prompted action within NHS and council teams.

The Living Well team in Selby trialed offering health checks at an auction mart and identified high blood pressure in a farmer, helping him get the urgent follow up care he needed.

Other local care partnerships are now exploring initiatives such as walk in farmer clinics, health checks led by GP practices at auction marts, and dedicated social prescriber visits.

A social prescriber supports people with non medical needs, helping them access community services, wellbeing support, advice and activities that improve their health.

A care partnership is when NHS staff, councils and community groups work together locally. The aim is to stop services working on their own and instead help them use each others strengths and resources to avoid duplication.

Healthcare at auction marts

Auction marts are central to farming life. By trialling health checks run by GP practices and support services at Selby auction mart, shaped by the Healthwatch report and inspired by the Field Nurse charity, healthcare is brought to where farmers already are.

North Riding Primary Care Network, a group of GP practices working together, has also launched a Rural Health Team. Working with the Farming Community Network, they visited Malton auction mart for the first time in October 2025 to deliver health checks. They held two more drop in sessions in November 2025 and another in December 2025.

Their long term goal is to build a regular presence and work together with other agricultural organisations to improve access to primary care within the farming community. They have already received an enquiry from an agricultural company in Malton.

Auction marts are not just about selling livestock. They are places where farmers meet professionally and socially. That makes them a natural place to offer health checks and advice without farmers losing valuable working hours.

Building on this momentum, we are also working with South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to explore placing nursing posts within auction marts. The Friarage Hospital has agreed in principle to host these roles, and funding and sponsorship are being sought from the National Farmers Union, the Country Land and Business Association and agricultural feed companies. We met in December 2025 to start work on this.

Supporting mental health

Veterinarians and other rural professionals work closely with farming families and often visit during stressful periods. Because of this, they are well placed to notice early changes in behaviour, mood or wellbeing. We are supporting plans to train these professionals to recognise signs of mental health concerns and to feel confident starting supportive conversations.

This initiative is being developed with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, also known as RABI, which provides specialist mental health support for the farming community. The aim is to give trusted professionals the knowledge to guide farmers to help at the earliest opportunity, reducing the risk of issues worsening unnoticed.

Training GP practices to improve 

Healthwatch is working with RABI to offer training sessions for GP practices. The plan is to raise awareness of the barriers that farmers face, highlight what GP practices can do to reduce these barriers and show how RABI can support farmers and their families. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution provides financial help, emotional support and practical guidance.

We attended GP protected learning time sessions in Selby, Scarborough, Hambleton and Richmondshire sessions this year to support practice staff education around farming.

Raising awareness where it matters

Your feedback has not only shaped local services but also caught the attention of national decision makers.

Reaching out to visitors at the Great Yorkshire Show

The Great Yorkshire Show is the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s flagship four day event, attracting around 140 thousand visitors in 2025. Healthwatch took part in a panel discussion that put farmer wellbeing centre stage.

The session opened honest conversations about mental health, access to care and the pressures of farming life. By speaking directly with farmers, families and healthcare staff in this unique setting, we reached people where they live and work.

Farmers being heard by the Government

Julian Smith, Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon, asked government ministers three formal questions about farming health:

• bringing mobile health services into rural areas
• making general practice appointments more flexible for farmers
• training rural professionals, such as vets, to guide farmers to support

When a Member of Parliament asks a question in Parliament, a government minister must respond publicly. This pushed farming health higher up the national agenda.

Ministers recognised the challenges farmers face and highlighted existing schemes, including the Farmer Welfare Grant and mental health training for agricultural communities.

Working with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society has taken the Healthwatch report into its Rural Support Network steering group, using it both to set priorities and strengthen funding bids for frontline services. This means Healthwatch evidence is not only informing plans but helping unlock the resources needed to deliver change.

With North Yorkshire Council

The experiences of farmers, along with Healthwatch recommendations, are shaping the Rural Health Needs Assessment, which identifies the specific health, wellbeing and social support needs of rural communities. This means farmers voices are influencing long term planning for rural services, ensuring that issues such as access, isolation and tailored GP support are built into plans rather than left to chance.

Healthwatch also presented findings at the North Yorkshire Scrutiny of Health Committee. Councillors acknowledged the seriousness of the challenges farmers face and gave their support to continued action to reduce barriers to healthcare in rural communities. Their support means farmer wellbeing is now firmly on the councils agenda, creating opportunities to influence how healthcare services are planned, funded and delivered.

Speaking up for farmers

Healthwatch shared the Ploughing through barriers report at planning groups across North Yorkshire, ensuring farming communities stay at the forefront of rural healthcare planning.

This has supported:

North Yorkshire Council’s suicide prevention group 

Your input has helped bring the challenges of isolation and farming life into the countywide suicide prevention plan. This ensures that rural mental health is embedded in wider work and opens opportunities for more training for frontline staff.

Rural Services Network’s national seminar

Sharing North Yorkshire’s learning on a national stage means shaping the rural health conversation and helping reach other farming communities. Attendees included rural health leaders and those making decisions about your health, giving your recommendations a platform to improve services beyond our county.

Rural cancer awareness

We are part of the Humber and North Yorkshire Rural Cancer Working Group, which focuses on cancer awareness, screening, diagnosis and treatment in rural areas.

Ideas under discussion include:

• introducing cancer champions into auction marts
• training vets and rural professionals on cancer awareness, similar to our mental health training

There is potential funding within the Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance to pilot some of these ideas.