Fielding better healthcare for North Yorkshire’s farmers

Farming is central to life across North Yorkshire. Yet the nature of farming work can make it difficult to access healthcare when it is needed.

Long hours, early mornings, seasonal pressures and the practical realities of running a farm mean that attending appointments or seeking support can be challenging. Many farmers also work in isolation and may delay asking for help until problems become more serious.

To better understand these challenges, Healthwatch North Yorkshire spoke with farmers, farming families and people working closely with the agricultural community. The findings were published in the report Ploughing through barriers, which explored the barriers farmers face when accessing healthcare and what could help make support easier to reach.

Since the report was published, organisations across North Yorkshire have begun taking forward ideas and initiatives inspired by its findings. These developments show how listening to local experiences can help shape practical improvements.

This page highlights some of the developments and discussions that have followed.

Bringing healthcare closer to the farming community

One of the clearest messages from farmers was that traditional healthcare systems are not always designed around farming life. Travelling long distances or attending appointments during standard working hours can be difficult, particularly during busy periods such as lambing, calving or harvest.

In response, healthcare teams have started exploring ways to bring support directly to the places farmers already visit.

Primary care teams in North Yorkshire have begun attending livestock markets to offer health advice, checks and support. At one auction mart visit, farmers were able to receive blood pressure checks and discuss their health concerns. In one case, a participant was advised to seek urgent medical care after a dangerously high reading was identified.

Primary care networks are also developing new ways to provide healthcare in rural settings. In one area, a dedicated rural health team has begun visiting auction markets to offer health checks, screening advice and follow up support. Farmers have also been able to access physiotherapy appointments through these visits, helping address musculoskeletal problems that might otherwise go untreated.

The aim of these initiatives is to build a regular presence within rural communities and make healthcare more visible and accessible.

This approach builds on work already taking place in the farming sector. For example, initiatives such as the Field Nurse charity have shown how providing health support in agricultural settings can make it easier for farmers to seek help. Inspired by this model, healthcare teams in North Yorkshire have begun trialling health checks at livestock markets, including sessions led by the North Riding Primary Care Network rural health team at Malton auction mart. Livestock markets are not only places where farmers conduct business but also important social hubs within rural communities, making them a natural place to offer health advice and checks.

There are also early discussions about creating more permanent health support spaces within agricultural settings. For example, plans for a future livestock market development in Malton include the possibility of incorporating a health hub within the site.

Building on this work, Healthwatch North Yorkshire is 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 discussions are underway to secure funding and sponsorship from organisations such as the National Farmers Union, the Country Land and Business Association and agricultural feed companies. Initial discussions to progress this work took place in December 2025.

Farmer walk in clinics in GP practices

Another idea emerging from the report is the development of farmer walk in clinics within GP practices serving rural communities.

These sessions are designed around farming schedules and allow people working in agriculture to attend without needing to book an appointment in advance.

Plans were developed with several primary care networks across North Yorkshire to trial this approach when workloads on farms were slightly quieter.

The sessions ran between November 2025 and January 2026.

A farmer walk in clinic is a dedicated session where anyone from the farming community can attend for a health check, advice or signposting without needing a pre booked appointment. The aim is to make healthcare easier to access for people whose working day can make it difficult to attend appointments at fixed times.

The clinics were trialled in GP practices across several rural primary care networks:

Hambleton North Primary Care Network, including:
Stokesley Surgery
Great Ayton Health Centre
Mayford House Surgery in Northallerton
Mowbray House Surgery in Northallerton

Hambleton South Primary Care Network, including:
Thirsk Health Centre
Lambert Medical Centre in Thirsk
Topcliffe Surgery
Glebe House Surgery in Bedale

South Hambleton and Ryedale Primary Care Network, including:
Millfield Surgery
Stillington Surgery
Tollerton Surgery
Terrington Surgery
Pickering Medical Practice
Kirkbymoorside Surgery

Leyburn Medical Practice, part of Richmondshire Primary Care Network.

This work began after Healthwatch North Yorkshire published Ploughing through barriers, which explored the barriers farmers face when accessing healthcare and the changes that could help make support easier to reach.

Improving identification of farmers within healthcare systems

Another practical step that has emerged from the report is the use of better coding within GP systems.

Some GP practices and primary care networks have started identifying patients who work in farming or come from farming families within their records. This allows practices to better understand their rural population and consider how services might be adapted to support them.

For example, several practices in North Yorkshire have begun recording farmers as a specific group within patient records. In some areas, GP practices have contacted patients directly to ask whether they work in agriculture so that this information can be added.

This approach can help practices recognise potential barriers to attending appointments and consider more flexible options where possible.

Example of local action

Some GP practices have already begun adapting services in response to the experiences shared by farmers.

For example, Central Dales GP Practice, which serves communities around Hawes and Aysgarth, reviewed how it provides care after hearing feedback through the Ploughing through barriers report. The practice introduced more flexible ways for farmers to access help, including the option to call in, walk in or request support through an online form at any time. Evening and weekend appointments are also available to help people whose work makes daytime appointments difficult. 

The practice has also taken steps to reduce travel and time away from farms, including offering blood tests at the surgery and providing medication deliveries to many patients. Staff have also worked with local vets so they can encourage farmers to contact the practice if they are concerned about someone’s wellbeing.

Supporting healthcare staff to better understand farming life

The research also highlighted that healthcare professionals may not always be familiar with the realities of farming work.

To help address this, training sessions have been delivered for GP practice teams across North Yorkshire. These sessions explain the practical challenges farmers face, the pressures linked to farming life and the barriers that can make seeking healthcare difficult.

The training has also highlighted the importance of understanding the farming calendar and recognising the impact that seasonal work can have on a person’s ability to attend appointments.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire worked with the farming charity RABI to deliver both in person training sessions and online learning events for GP practice staff. These sessions help increase awareness of farming life and the health challenges that can affect people working in agriculture.

The work has also sparked interest in creating a wider rural GP network across North Yorkshire so that practices serving farming communities can share knowledge and learning.

Working with trusted rural professionals

Farmers often have regular contact with rural professionals such as vets, agricultural advisers and auction mart staff. These relationships can play an important role in helping people access support.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire has encouraged greater awareness among rural professionals about the health challenges farmers may face and the support services available.

In some areas, healthcare teams have begun building relationships with vets and other agricultural professionals so that they can help share health information with the farming community.

Supporting mental health in farming communities

Mental health was another important theme raised through the research. Farming can be rewarding, but it can also bring significant pressures including financial uncertainty, long working hours and the isolation that often comes with working alone.

Veterinarians and other rural professionals often work closely with farming families and may visit farms during particularly stressful periods. Because of this, they are sometimes among the first people to notice changes in behaviour, mood or wellbeing.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire is supporting plans to train these professionals so they can recognise early signs that someone may be struggling and feel confident starting supportive conversations.

This work is being developed with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI), a charity that provides specialist mental health support for the farming community. The aim is to ensure that trusted professionals who regularly interact with farmers understand where support is available and can help guide people to the right services before problems become more serious.

By helping people who already work alongside farmers recognise the signs of distress and know where to direct someone for support, the initiative aims to reduce the risk of mental health difficulties going unnoticed.

Influencing wider work across the countryside

The report has been shared widely across local and regional networks.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire has presented the work to a range of organisations including local care partnerships, NHS forums and rural health events. The findings have also informed North Yorkshire Council’s rural health needs assessment and wider discussions about health inequalities in rural communities. 

The work has also attracted interest beyond North Yorkshire. A researcher from Newcastle University cited the findings in evidence submitted to a national rural health and wellbeing taskforce examining health challenges affecting rural communities.

The report has also helped inform discussions with farming charities and organisations exploring new approaches to rural health support, including ideas such as mobile health services and community based initiatives.

In addition, the Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance has used insights from the farming work to inform projects aimed at improving cancer awareness and screening in rural communities.

The work has also reached national decision makers. After one of our volunteers shared the Healthwatch report with their local Member of Parliament, Julian Smith MP raised a series of written questions in Parliament about improving healthcare access for farmers and rural communities. These questions focused on issues raised by farmers in North Yorkshire, including the need for more flexible GP appointments and the role of mobile health services in rural areas.

National attention on farmers’ health

There has also been growing national attention on farmers’ health and wellbeing. Recent media coverage has highlighted the pressures facing farming communities and the importance of making support available in places farmers already visit, such as livestock markets.

Many of the experiences described in these reports echo the issues raised by farmers in North Yorkshire. Isolation, demanding working patterns and the difficulty of taking time away from the farm to seek help can all contribute to poorer health outcomes if support is not accessible.

By bringing services closer to farming communities and improving awareness of rural life within healthcare systems, organisations hope to make it easier for farmers to seek help earlier.

Continuing the conversation

Improving access to healthcare for farming communities will take time and ongoing work between health services, rural organisations and the farming community itself.

However, the developments that have already taken place show that listening to farmers’ experiences can lead to meaningful change.

From healthcare teams visiting auction markets to new training for GP practice staff, the trial of farmer walk in clinics and plans to bring more health services into rural locations, practical steps are beginning to make a difference.

As this work continues, the aim remains simple: ensuring that farmers across North Yorkshire can access the healthcare and support they need in ways that fit with the realities of farming life.