What we do every day

Four programmes, one shared purpose: making sure that no one in rural Galloway is left without access to the health information they need.

Our Programmes

How we reach you

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Health Information Freephone Line

A free, confidential telephone service staffed by trained health information advisers, available Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

Callers can ask about any health topic — from understanding a letter from a consultant to finding out how to register with a new GP after moving to the area, from questions about medication side effects to guidance on mental health support services in Dumfries and Galloway. Our advisers do not diagnose or prescribe, but they are trained to provide clear, accurate information based on current NHS guidance and to direct callers to the most appropriate service for their needs. All calls are treated in strict confidence, and no referral or appointment is required to ring us.

🚐

Atlas Travelling Van

A purpose-fitted information van that visits over forty community locations across the Rhins and Machars on a regular fortnightly circuit.

The Atlas van is stocked with plain-language health leaflets, NHS Scotland resources and information about local services, and is staffed by a health information adviser and at least one community health champion on every visit. At each stop, residents can pick up resources, have a private one-to-one conversation, have their blood pressure checked using our validated self-measurement equipment, and get help navigating digital health tools if they wish. Van schedules are published in local newsletters, on community noticeboards and on our website, and we actively work with farming unions and rural networks to ensure isolated homesteads receive advance notice of nearby stops.

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Community Health Champions

A volunteer programme that trains local people to be trusted first points of contact for health information within their own communities.

Community health champions complete a structured twelve-hour training programme accredited through NHS Dumfries and Galloway's health literacy framework, covering communication skills, up-to-date health information, safeguarding awareness and appropriate signposting. Champions are not health professionals, but they are recognised, trusted faces in their own parishes — the person at the agricultural show, the choir member, the school gate regular — and their informal reach extends into places and relationships our staff cannot replicate. We currently have twenty-three active champions spread across the peninsula and Machars, and we run a refresher training day each spring.

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Health Literacy Workshops

Group sessions delivered in community venues across our area, helping residents build confidence in understanding health information and navigating health services.

Workshops cover topics chosen in response to community feedback, including understanding NHS letters and appointment systems, using NHS Inform and NHS 24 effectively, managing long-term conditions in a rural setting, and supporting a family member through a health journey. Sessions are kept deliberately small — no more than twelve participants — to allow genuine conversation rather than passive information delivery. We bring workshops to existing community groups wherever possible, including WRI meetings, Men's Sheds, Young Farmers clubs and sheltered housing common rooms, rather than expecting people to attend a standalone event. All materials are available in large print and we can arrange BSL interpretation on request.

In Practice

What a day in Atlas looks like

A health information adviser in the Atlas van with an older resident having their blood pressure checked

The practical work of Atlas is grounded in the daily rhythms of rural Galloway life. On any given Monday morning, our advisers might take a call from a hill farmer near Stoneykirk who has just come out of a hospital appointment and cannot make sense of the discharge letter; from a retired fisherman in Isle of Whithorn who wants to know whether his new blood pressure medication interacts with an over-the-counter painkiller; from a young mother in a hamlet outside Wigtown who is trying to work out whether her child's symptoms warrant a trip to Stranraer or a call to NHS 24. Each call is different, but the underlying need is consistent: access to a knowledgeable, unhurried voice that can help a person understand their situation and take the right next step. Our advisers spend an average of fourteen minutes on each call — long enough to actually help.

"For some of our older rural residents, the fortnightly van visit is the most direct contact they have with any health-adjacent service for weeks at a time."

Out on the road, the Atlas van follows a fortnightly schedule that has been refined over three years of community feedback. We park at the same spots at the same times so that regulars know when to expect us, but we also respond to requests — if a local GP practice contacts us because they are aware of a cluster of patients struggling with a particular issue, we can adjust a stop or add a short session at the practice's suggestion. The van is not simply a leaflet drop: it is a presence, a visible signal that someone has thought about this community and considered it worth showing up for.

For some of our older rural residents, the fortnightly van visit is the most direct contact they have with any health-adjacent service for weeks at a time, and our advisers are trained to notice signs of social isolation and to make gentle, appropriate referrals to other support services where relevant. We are not a medical service and we do not diagnose — but we believe that well-informed people make better decisions about their own care, and that no one in rural Galloway should feel stranded when a health question arises.

4,800+ Advice line calls answered

42 Van stop points across the region

97% Callers felt better informed

Your health questions deserve a real answer

Whether you want to find out when the van is next in your area or simply ask a question, we are here for you Monday to Saturday.