£60,000 boost for ’Social Prescribing’ in Somerset

Health services in Somerset have received a £60,000 financial boost to help ‘Social Prescribing’ take a leap forward.

‘Social Prescribing’ links people with health problems into practical and emotional support in communities and the voluntary sector.

Participants meet with a professional to identify which ongoing practical, emotional and community support can best help them achieve their goals.

A recent £30,000 development grant from the Life Chances Fund, matched by £30,000 from the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN), and ongoing investment by the Richmond Group of Charities and Somerset partners will enable further involvement of local people, professionals and technical advisors into the design of plans going forward.

The development phase will take place over the next five years and the project team will coordinate with the existing social prescribing approaches in some parts of the county, as well as other local life Chances Fund projects.

For GPs and other healthcare professionals the project creates an opportunity to reliably and easily connect with consistent community and voluntary sector resources in their locality, thereby helping professionals provide a wider offer to those patients least able to help themselves.

Christine Lawrence, Somerset County councillor and chair of the health and well-being board, said: “This is excellent news for Somerset. We welcome the award of the development grant, which enables us to move the project forward to a development stage. It marks an important next step in the shared commitment in Somerset to work together to build community resilience and improve the wellbeing of our population across the statutory, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sectors.”

Liz Simmons, coordinator of the Somerset VCSE Strategic Forum, said: “This is a great opportunity for the local voluntary and community sector to be involved in the future design and delivery of health and care services across Somerset. We look forward to working with a range of people, communities and organisations across Somerset to progress plans over the coming months.”

Will Harris, Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group’s Primary Care Clinical Lead, said: “Somerset’s GPs welcome this funding to develop a local approach to ‘social prescribing’. Although family doctors support people with their day-to-day health needs, good health and wellbeing is not just about the absence of illness. GPs want to work with the voluntary sector and communities to address the social, emotional or practical needs in people’s lives and ‘social prescribing’ has been shown to offer a practical and effective way of addressing everything from loneliness to improving diet and physical activity.”

Charlotte Augst, The Richmond Group’s Partnership director, said: “We are delighted that more than a year’s worth of discussions, investment and research with Somerset partners now means we have ensured substantial backing for this landmark VCSE-led collaborative project in Somerset. Only by continuing to work together can we really make a difference and improve the lives of the 250,000 people in Somerset living with long term conditions.”

Jonathan Gray, chief executive of the South West Academic Health Science Network said: “This is an exciting opportunity to develop a different model of care, which will bring partners together to focus on the outcomes that matter for people managing a long-term illness.”