NHS West Lancashire CCG - Social Prescribing Service

Tender description

West Lancashire CCG - Social Prescribing Services - Skelmersdale NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) are working on behalf of NHS West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who are looking to pilot a social prescribing service, in their drive towards prevention and reducing health inequalities. Social prescribing is becoming recognised as a fundamental route of support for today's communities. The term 'social prescribing' simply means linking people up to social or physical activities in their community that will benefit them. These activities are typically provided by voluntary and community-sector organisations and commissioned statutory wellbeing services. Examples may include debt and housing advice, volunteering, ecotherapy, arts activities, cooking and healthy eating advice. The idea is that these activities and connections will help alleviate issues faced by an individual by for example developing new skills, reducing feelings of loneliness, forging relationships and acquaintances and increasing mobility and self-confidence. As highlighted in the GP Forward View, GPs remain a popular go to place for people looking for support. The issues patients present with are not always appropriate for a medical prescription. GPs and surrounding communities need to be equipped with social prescribing models to create a shift away from medical responses to more holistic approach that increases wellbeing, not just treating illness. West Lancashire CCG is working towards a holistic model of social prescribing, one that has a social prescriber working with referred individuals to access local sources of support. Likewise, CCGs are being urged in a national context (NHS Five Year Forward View) to focus on prevention. A focus on true health and wellbeing requires a focus on the wider determinants of health. These wider determinants can include many factors for example family relationships, education, working conditions and adequate housing. To do this, the CCG intends to look beyond health services and settings. The social prescribing service will begin initially in Skelmersdale, due to the severity of health inequalities relating to this specific area of West Lancashire. The Seven Wards Report highlights the detail of this but as an example of the stark differences, for males in West Lancashire, life expectancy at birth ranged from 83 years in Derby to 73.6 in Tanhouse, a difference of 9.4 years. For females, life expectancy at birth ranged from 87.6 in Tarleton to 76.1 in Birch Green, a difference of 11.5 years.