Social prescribing is a non-medical approach within the NHS that helps patients improve their health and wellbeing, and is an important NHS Hot Topic.

Rather than solely focusing on medical treatment, social prescribing connects patients to local services within their community and activities such as gardening, cookery classes, and exercise sessions can be provided.

Social prescribing aims to treat the patient holistically and to take their physical, emotional and mental health into account.

Understanding how social prescribing works is important when preparing for medical school interviews. Social prescribing is often discussed in the context of providing personalised care to the patient and in ways to reduce pressure on NHS services.

In your medicine interviews, you could be asked to provide examples of social prescribing and to explain the benefits that it provides to health services. Or you could integrate it into broader questions about the NHS

You can also have a go at example medicine interview questions, and can read through the model answers we have below.

NHS Social Prescribing Explained Tips Medicine Interview Guide

Social Prescribing Summary:

Social prescribing is a non-pharmacological way of improving a patient’s mental, physical or emotional health. It is delivered via voluntary or community organisations.
Examples of social prescribing include befriending, gardening, cookery and exercise classes.
The patient is referred to social prescribing via GPs, a hospital discharge team or social services. A link worker then connects the patient with the voluntary sector.
Social prescribing is beneficial in providing personalised care for the patient. It also reduces A&E visits and hospital consultations.
The NHS Long-term Plan outlines the importance of social prescribing for holistic patient care.

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Social Prescribing Meaning

Social prescribing is used by healthcare professionals to support patients’ mental, emotional or physical health in a non-clinical way.

It is a personalised method of connecting patients to local services within their community. Social prescribing activities are often delivered by the voluntary sector and by community services.

The goal of social prescribing is to treat patients’ health holistically and to encourage patients to have greater control over their well-being. It can provide patients with practical and emotional support.

It is often used for a diverse range of patients, such as:

Patients who face social isolation
Patients with chronic health conditions
Patients with multiple health conditions
Patients who have more complex needs

Healthcare may be inaccessible to many patients due to socioeconomic factors or certain health inequalities ( such as low literacy rates).

Therefore, social prescribing provides a community-based approach for engaging patients to improve their well-being.

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Social Prescribing Examples

Social prescribing activities are carried out locally and address patients’ specific social, mental or physical needs.

Examples include:

Gardening
Befriending services
Cookery lessons
Art activities
Exercise classes
Lessons on healthy eating

What is the role of social prescribing link workers?

Patients are often referred to social prescribing activities through healthcare professionals who are working in primary care settings, such as GPs or nurse practitioners.

Social services, hospital discharge teams and pharmacies can also refer people.

The patient is assigned to a social prescribing link worker, and their role is to find what goals the patient has and how the patient should take a holistic approach to their health.

The link worker is responsible for discussing what truly matters to the patient and what activities would benefit them. The link worker then connects the patients with local services and creates a tailored care plan for the patient.

Social Prescribing Benefits

There is growing evidence to support the implementation of social prescribing in the NHS.

Social prescribing has improved patient outcomes.

An evaluation project conducted in Bristol found that after doing social prescribing activities, patients reported less anxiety related to their health and well-being.
Patients also reported increased quality of life and enhanced feelings of social connectivity when participating in activities and services.
Similarly, a programme found that patients have decreased feelings of loneliness and improved well-being after completing community activities.

Additionally, social prescribing is also beneficial at reducing GP visits and decreasing the pressure on primary care services.

A study found that the number of GP consultations for patients decreased by 40% in comparison to a control group.
A scheme in Rotherham found that after receiving social prescribing for 3 months, more than 8 in 10 patients had fewer inpatient appointments and A&E visits.

This indicates how social prescribing reduces the load on the NHS by providing non-clinical interventions to improve the patients’ health.

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Social Prescribing Challenges

There are some challenges to social prescribing, such as resource allocation and cost-effectiveness.

Additionally, a study found that more than half of social prescribing outcomes were not routinely measured.

Public Health England has also concluded that a greater amount of evidence is needed to support social prescribing, and greater clarification is needed on which specific patient populations can benefit from this intervention.

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Social Prescribing in the NHS

The NHS is now aiming to implement social prescribing more widely to provide personalised care for patients.

NHS Long-term plan

The NHS Long-term plan ( which describes the ambitions that the NHS has set out to achieve) has now integrated social prescribing into its goals to provide holistic care for the patient.

It contains the ‘comprehensive model of personalised care’, which discusses how patients with complex needs can take greater individual control of their well-being.

It has also allowed the introduction of social prescribing link workers into primary care networks (PCNs), so that GPs can easily access these link workers.

The Long-term plan also established a goal that 2.5 million patients would be referred to social prescribing by 2023/2024.

In the year 2022/2023, a rule was also introduced where primary care networks must offer social prescribing within their care, and they must work with patients with specific health inequalities to provide personalised care.

It is important to note that rather than funding the voluntary sectors directly, the funding is used for social prescribing link workers, who then connect the patients to the community organisations.

NHS Five-Year Forward View

In 2014, the NHS Five Year Forward View emphasised its focus on preventative interventions. It highlighted how the voluntary and community sectors can be beneficial in improving the health of patients.

The National Academy of Social Prescribing

The government has also taken further initiatives to improve personalised care. In 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care invested £5 million to establish the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP) with the support of NHS England.

This academy aims to find further evidence backing social prescribing and also raises awareness about how social prescribing can be used.

Additionally, the NHS has also been focusing on further non-medical interventions. In 2018, the government promoted social prescribing to decrease the prevalence of loneliness and in 2020, ‘green social prescribing’ was used to encourage patients to engage with nature.

Future of Social Prescribing

Social prescribing is currently being effectively implemented within the NHS, and to optimise its use in the future, further clarification is required on which specific link worker model should be utilised.

There is a need to explore how social prescribing link workers should be integrated within the wider multidisciplinary team.

Additionally, stronger partnerships between the NHS and the voluntary sector are required so that a wider range of activities can be used for patients.

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How to answer questions on social prescribing for medical school interviews

When answering questions about social prescribing for medical school interviews, it is important to first outline the meaning of social prescribing and how it is used within the NHS.

Consider discussing the benefits of social prescribing, like providing personalised care, but also its wider impact, such as fewer A&E visits and a decreased amount of inpatient consultations.

Consider using the structure:

Definition → Use within the NHS → Benefits → Evidence

You may not be asked about social prescribing directly, but it is very relevant for questions involving the care of the elderly or interventions that could have been used during the COVID-19 pandemic ( such as befriending).

Social Prescribing Model: Question and Answer

Describe an intervention that has been used to reduce pressure on NHS services.

An intervention that has been implemented by the NHS to reduce pressure is social prescribing. This can be described as an intervention where healthcare professionals connect patients to the voluntary sector to improve their mental, physical or social health.

In the NHS, patients can be referred by primary care staff like GPs and nurses or by pharmacies and social services. A social prescribing link worker is used to connect the patient to the voluntary and community organisations.

Social prescribing is beneficial as it provides a non-clinical way of treating the patient, and it provides personalised care for the patient and tailored to the patient's needs. Recent studies have also found that GP consultations decreased by 40% compared to a control group.

There were also fewer A&E visits and inpatient consultations. Therefore, social prescribing is an effective intervention in reducing pressure on both primary and secondary care services.

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Social Prescribing Medical Interview Questions

Can you explain why social prescribing is used within the NHS?
Can you discuss the structure of social prescribing in the NHS?
What are the benefits of social prescribing within the NHS?
What kind of patient populations benefit from social prescribing?
Describe an intervention that has been used to benefit patients’ mental health.
Describe an intervention that has been used to improve patients’ physical health.

Less likely to come up - harder questions!

Imagine that you are a GP and your patient has described that they feel lonely and isolated. What measures could you suggest?
Describe an intervention that considers the biopsychosocial model.
Could you describe and explain the goal of the NHS Long-term Plan?

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Social Prescribing NHS FAQs

What is social prescribing in the NHS?

Social prescribing is a non-medical approach that connects people to their local community groups to improve their health and wellbeing.

How does social prescribing work in the NHS?

A healthcare professional refers patients to a social prescribing link worker to provide personalised care and support. The social prescriber can then suggest groups and activities that would be beneficial for the patient.

Referrals are often made by GPs and nurses, but can be made by social services and pharmacies.

Which patients benefit from social prescribing?

It is very beneficial for patients who have long-term health conditions, are socially isolated and have a range of complex social needs.

What are some examples of social prescribing activities?

Groups and services offer gardening sessions, cookery, exercise lessons and befriending opportunities.

It has been found that patients had increased feelings of social connectivity, and they reported increased quality of life.

What are the challenges of social prescribing?

Challenges include inadequate measurement of outcomes and uncertainty about the effectiveness of social prescribing for certain patients.

How does the NHS Long-term Plan include social prescribing?

The NHS Long Term Plan states that social prescribing is a holistic way of improving the health and care of patients.

What is the role of social prescribing link workers?

They are responsible for connecting the patient to their local community and the voluntary sector. They discuss what the patient's concerns are, and they can refer the patient to the appropriate activities.