Hansard

No: it highlights the fact that all our agencies, and sportscotland in particular, are focusing their efforts. I will come to a few examples of where that focused effort tries to break down the barriers that we all know exist. There is no point in our pretending that those barriers do not exist—they do. From the figures, we can see a disparity in relation to physical activity between the most and least-deprived areas. That is why we need that focused action, and sportscotland, along with our education colleagues, is absolutely taking that action.

Sportscotland also works with partners to improve the provision, reach and community engagement of our community sport hubs in deprived areas, and its sport facilities fund gives priority to projects that provide more and better opportunities for underrepresented groups.

We also continue to invest in walking as a highly effective way of creating opportunities for everyone in Scotland to be active. Walking is an accessible, popular and cost-free activity, and we provide £1.2 million annually to Paths for All to deliver our national walking strategy. However, there is a long way to go if we are to see a reduction in inequalities in physical activity levels across the Scottish population as a whole. That must remain an on-going focus in our policies and in delivery.

The second area that I want to focus on is the role of the healthcare system in highlighting to people the benefits of being physically active, and in connecting them with the support and opportunities that they need to be physically active.

The committee has recommended that we support NHS boards and integration authorities to raise awareness of social prescribing and other activities around promoting physical activity, and that is what NHS Health Scotland works to achieve by embedding its national physical activity pathway in existing practice. The pathway is an evidence-based approach through which health and social care professionals can deliver structured, brief advice on physical activity.

NHS Health Scotland also works with academic partners and physical activity providers to develop quality standards for physical activity referral, which will lead to greater quality and consistency in the design and delivery of referral schemes in Scotland.

The committee’s report describes social prescribing as

“a way for primary care professionals to connect people to a range of local, non-clinical services.”

Those services are

“sources of support or resources in a local community that have the potential to help people with the health problems they are experiencing.”

I have spoken about the benefits of physical activity and sport, but it is important to recognise that other types of support and resources within local communities also have significant and proven benefits for physical and mental health. As the convener said, taking part in cultural activity—whether doing or seeing culture—has been shown to reduce social isolation, strengthen social networks, increase self-confidence and resilience and empower individuals and communities. Culture can and does play a key role in maintaining good mental health and wellbeing.

It is important that we recognise the range of activities that improve our physical and mental health and provide people with the options and support that best fit their own needs, interests and circumstances. That is very much in line with the principles of realistic medicine, which is all about supporting our healthcare professionals to deliver a more personalised approach to care. Social prescribing clearly has an important role to play in delivering that personalised approach, and we will explore that further by discussing with key stakeholders, including the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, how Scotland might achieve that aim. We are also engaging with a number of expert by experience groups to capture their views.

Nevertheless, it is important to recognise that medical prescribing and social prescribing need not be mutually exclusive. In practice, a mixture of interventions might be appropriate for an individual’s personal circumstances. Rather than seek to trade one off against the other, it might be better to contrast health interventions that are done to people with a personalised approach, where they are done by people.

Increased resources are being allocated to building capacity and expertise in the healthcare system to enable that person-centred support. That includes our commitment to increasing the number of community link workers by 250 by the end of this session of Parliament. Community link workers play a key role in supporting patients to access local services. By the very nature of their role, they help break down the barriers that people face in taking part in physical activity and sport and in accessing other opportunities to improve their health and wellbeing in their local communities.

Similarly, our commitment in the mental health strategy to fund 800 additional mental health workers ensures that local provision and support are at the heart of our plans. Investing in the relationships between healthcare professionals and services or programmes in the community provides benefit in both directions. For example, as part of the Scottish Government’s work with the British Heart Foundation on blood pressure management, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Western Isles have focused on identifying patients through community services. In Lanarkshire, that was done through leisure and cultural services delivering a programme of blood pressure testing as part of the expansion of physical activity prescription referral inductions. In the Western Isles, staff from the community carers forum delivered blood pressure testing to carers. Both methods supported a move towards prevention through simple-to-use digital technologies, away from the normal GP practice setting.

I emphasise that there are huge benefits to be gained from strong connections between healthcare practitioners and the voluntary and community organisations that provide the opportunity for people to improve their health and wellbeing within their local communities. Social prescribing is all about realising those benefits. Nevertheless, the committee is right to highlight that we must be mindful of the capacity and capability of the third sector to respond to additional demand through social prescribing. It is vital that we nurture the commitment to the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland of healthcare professionals and those who provide opportunities for people to take part in health-promoting activities in their local communities.

I look forward to hearing the thoughts of members from across the chamber on how we can best support people in those roles and make the most of the potential of social prescribing approaches to improve our physical and mental wellbeing.