The advent of social prescribing

It is now well recognised that health and wellbeing is influenced by a range of factors and that it cannot be resolved through conventional health services alone.

Over a decade ago, the 2014 NHS Five Year Forward View highlighted emerging models of care regarding the positive impact of the social and voluntary sector on patient care, referencing specific social prescribing services.

Later, in 2016, the General Practice Forward View acknowledged the role the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector plays alongside GP services, offering people community-based support, particularly via social prescribing.

In 2019, the NHS Long Term Plan stated its intention to build an infrastructure for social prescribing through primary care networks (PCNs), to help create an extra 50 million general practice appointments. In 2023, PCNs were contracted to provide a proactive social prescribing service for all registered patients.

Then in July this year, the Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England reinforced the central nature of community-based holistic care. In short, social prescribing is here to stay.