Meeting of the Parliament 10 November 2022
Yes. Social prescribing is delivered in many ways. I was involved professionally in football for 15 or 20 years and in other aspects of sport. Social prescribing involves not only councils but the third sector. I will come to that a little later.
Many of the witnesses who contributed to the inquiry identified significant potential for social prescribing to patient—in particular, for those who present with problems that are rooted in non-medical issues. Clients experienced decreased social isolation, improved or new housing, the addressing of financial and benefits issues, and increased confidence, awareness, and empowerment. By using local resources, people can become more connected to their community, which increases their sense of belonging.
For GPs, there was a reduction in patient contact with medical services, provision of more options for patients, awareness raising of non-clinical services and increased GP productivity.
In further evidence, Clare Cook from SPRING Social Prescribing and the Scottish Social Prescribing Network argued there should not be a one-size-fits-all approach to social prescribing; programmes must be responsive to local needs.
We have also heard from Alison Leitch, from the Edinburgh community link worker programme, the argument that we need a clear overall lead on social prescribing and that efforts should be made to promote that.
The committee heard evidence that mapping work that is currently being undertaken by the Scottish Social Prescribing Network and Scottish community link worker networks would provide a clearer overview of social prescribing provision across the country. Current mapping shows that most local authority areas have existing social prescribing programmes.
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care mentioned that he is
“a real believer in the ability of social prescribing to have a positive impact on people”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 29 March 2022; c 17.]—
and expressed the hope that, the more people access social prescribing, the more they will see its value and promote its benefit to others.
What are the barriers to greater uptake? Evidence to the inquiry suggests that at least some of the barriers to greater use of social prescribing remain. The committee heard social prescribing being described as
“the biggest cultural shift in healthcare and medicine that we have had”—[Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, 22 March 2022; c 12.]
At the same time, it was acknowledged that the services are not universally available throughout the country, and that that is a barrier to promoting them at the national level. The committee also noted that there is no national lead on social prescribing, given that responsibility for it is shared between two Scottish Government ministerial portfolios. The committee commends the work that is currently being undertaken by social prescribing networks to map availability of social prescribing pathways across the country.
So what is next for social prescribing? The potential for social prescribing is endless, but it must be embedded fully in health and social care in order to achieve that potential. We must have robust evaluation processes to measure the impact that it has on individual lives and on communities. We need to work in partnership with the third sector, which provides most of the community services, because social prescribing can be only as good as the services that are available for people to be referred to.
We need primary care and the third sector to work more closely together to meet the challenges that society faces. We need to work with medical students to embed social prescribing in the medical degree, so that the GPs of the future can see, early on, that a toolbox of multidisciplinary professions is available to them in order to achieve the best outcomes for patients.
Recently, the Welsh Government carried out an ambitious consultation on a framework for social prescribing. England and Northern Ireland already have frameworks in place.
The social prescribing movement in Scotland is being recognised as part of a global social prescribing alliance, through the existing networks. However, it is important that we have an overarching structure that is designed for Scotland, by Scotland, and for the people of Scotland. Ownership is essential to ensuring that the momentum is built on.
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