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 examplemedicine interview questions, and can read through the model answers we have below.
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.
TheNHS Long-term Planoutlines the importance of social prescribing for holistic patient care.
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 certainhealth inequalities( such as low literacy rates).
Therefore, social prescribing provides a community-based approach for engaging patients to improve their well-being.
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 asocial 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.
A useful phrase to remember for interviews is that link workers focus on the question 'what matters to me?' rather than 'what is the matter with you?'. They typically work from GP practices within a Primary Care Network and were recruited at scale through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which funds their salaries. As of 2025 there are more than 3,600 link workers in post across England, with a typical full-time caseload of around 200 to 250 people depending on the complexity of their needs.
Social Prescribing Benefits and Evidence
There is growing evidence to support the implementation ofsocial prescribing in the NHS.
Social prescribing has improved patient outcomes.
Anevaluation project conducted in Bristolfound 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.
Public Health England has also concluded thata 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.
It is important to be balanced about this at interview. Many studies rely on small samples, self-reported outcomes and few randomised controlled trials, so the high-quality evidence base remains mixed and limited. Critics also warn that social prescribing must not become a way of diverting patients away from clinical care they genuinely need, or of masking under-resourced NHS and voluntary services. Showing you can weigh these criticisms, rather than simply praising the model, demonstrates the critical thinking that interviewers are looking for.
The NHS is now aiming to implement social prescribing more widely to provide personalised care for patients.
NHS Long-term plan
TheNHS 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 has also allowed the introduction of social prescribing link workers intoprimary care networks(PCNs), so that GPs can easily access these link workers.
The Long Term Plan set a target of referring at least 900,000 people to social prescribing by 2023/2024. This was exceeded: by the end of 2023, more than 1.3 million people had been referred to a link worker, and as of 2025 there are over 3,600 social prescribing link workers in post across England.
Social prescribing link workers were recruited at scale through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which lets Primary Care Networks claim back the cost of employing them. This means PCNs are funded to provide social prescribing as a core part of personalised care, with a focus on patients facing the greatest health inequalities.
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.
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 theNational 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.
Social Prescribing and the 10 Year Health Plan
Social prescribing is now embedded across NHS primary care, and its future is closely tied to the July 2025 10 Year Health Plan, 'Fit for the Future'. The plan's shift from hospital-based to community-based care, and from treating sickness to preventing it, places link workers firmly within new neighbourhood health teams. To optimise its use, further clarity is still needed on the most effective link worker model and caseload.
There is a need to explore how social prescribing link workers should be integrated within the wider multidisciplinary team.
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Two fast-growing areas are well worth knowing for interviews. 'Green social prescribing' connects patients with nature-based activities such as walking groups, community gardening and conservation work to support mental health, and was scaled up through a national test-and-learn programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Arts on prescription' uses music, drama, painting and museum activities to reduce isolation and support wellbeing. Both illustrate how social prescribing addresses the wider social and emotional determinants of health rather than treating a single diagnosis.
Additionally, stronger partnerships between the NHS and the voluntary sector are required so that a wider range of activities can be used for patients.
How to Answer Social Prescribing Interview Questions
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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FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of social prescribing?
Social prescribing is a non-medical approach in which a healthcare professional connects a patient to community-based, non-clinical support to improve their health and wellbeing. Instead of, or alongside, medication, patients are referred to activities and services such as exercise groups, befriending, gardening, arts activities or debt and housing advice that address the wider social and emotional factors affecting their health.
What is the definition of social prescribing in the NHS?
In the NHS, social prescribing is defined as a way for local agencies to refer people to a link worker, who gives them time and focuses on 'what matters to me' to co-produce a personalised care and support plan. It is a core part of the NHS's personalised care agenda and connects people to community and voluntary-sector activities rather than clinical treatment.
What does a social prescriber or link worker do?
A social prescriber, more accurately called a social prescribing link worker, meets patients to understand what matters to them and the non-medical issues affecting their health, such as loneliness, debt, housing or inactivity. They then connect the patient to suitable community groups, voluntary organisations and local services, and co-produce a personalised plan. They do not provide clinical treatment themselves.
How does social prescribing work in the NHS?
A GP, nurse, pharmacist, social worker or hospital discharge team refers a patient to a social prescribing link worker, usually based in a GP practice within a Primary Care Network. The link worker explores what matters to the patient, agrees a personalised plan, and connects them to community and voluntary-sector activities. Referrals can also be made through self-referral in many areas.
What are examples of social prescribing?
Common examples include exercise and physical activity groups, walking schemes, gardening and conservation ('green social prescribing'), arts and music activities, befriending services for loneliness, cookery and healthy-eating classes, weight management programmes, and practical help such as debt, benefits and housing advice. Activities are usually delivered by community and voluntary-sector organisations rather than the NHS itself.
Which patients benefit most from social prescribing?
Social prescribing is particularly useful for people who are socially isolated or lonely, those with one or more long-term conditions, people with mental health needs such as mild to moderate anxiety or low mood, and patients with complex social needs linked to factors like housing, finances or unemployment. It is also valuable where health inequalities make clinical care harder to access.
What is the role of a social prescribing link worker?
The link worker's role is to give patients time, understand what matters to them, and connect them to non-clinical community support through a co-produced personalised care plan. They were recruited at scale through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) within Primary Care Networks. As of 2025 there are more than 3,600 link workers in post across England.
How many social prescribing link workers are there in the NHS?
As of 2025 there are more than 3,600 social prescribing link workers in post across England, recruited largely through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. The original NHS Long Term Plan target was to refer at least 900,000 people to social prescribing by 2023/2024, which was exceeded, with over 1.3 million people referred by the end of 2023.
What are the benefits of social prescribing?
Social prescribing can improve patients' wellbeing, reduce loneliness and give them greater control over their health. Evaluations have reported improved quality of life and reduced anxiety, and some schemes have reported fewer GP appointments, A&E visits and hospital admissions. By tackling non-medical needs, it can ease pressure on clinical services, though the strength of this evidence varies.
What are the challenges and criticisms of social prescribing?
The main criticism is that the evidence base is mixed and limited: many studies are small, rely on self-reported outcomes and lack randomised controlled trials, making cost-effectiveness hard to prove. Other challenges include link worker capacity and caseloads, variable funding for the voluntary sector, and the risk that social prescribing is used as a substitute for clinical care that patients actually need.
Is social prescribing evidence-based?
Social prescribing has a growing but still mixed evidence base. There are promising findings on wellbeing, loneliness and reduced service use, but bodies such as The King's Fund and Public Health England note that much of the research is low quality, with few controlled trials and inconsistent outcome measurement. A balanced interview answer acknowledges both the promise and these evidence limitations.
How does social prescribing fit the NHS 10 Year Health Plan?
The July 2025 10 Year Health Plan, 'Fit for the Future', sets out a shift from hospital to community care and from treating sickness to preventing it. Social prescribing supports both: link workers are being embedded in new neighbourhood health teams, and community-based, preventive support like social prescribing is central to the plan's vision of a 'neighbourhood NHS'.
What is green social prescribing?
Green social prescribing connects patients with nature-based activities, such as walking groups, community gardening, conservation work and outdoor exercise, to support mental and physical health. It was scaled up through a national test-and-learn programme during the COVID-19 pandemic and is a strong, current example to use when discussing how social prescribing tackles the wider determinants of health.
How is social prescribing funded in the NHS?
Social prescribing link workers are funded mainly through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which reimburses Primary Care Networks for employing them. Importantly, this funding pays for the link workers rather than the community organisations directly; the link workers then connect patients to voluntary and community-sector activities, whose funding can be more precarious.
How do I answer a social prescribing question in a medical school interview?
Use a clear structure: define social prescribing, explain how it works in the NHS via link workers and Primary Care Networks, give examples (such as exercise, befriending or green social prescribing), then discuss benefits and the wider impact on services. Crucially, show balance by acknowledging the mixed evidence base. Link it to the biopsychosocial model and holistic, personalised care to demonstrate insight.
Why is social prescribing important for medical school interviews?
Social prescribing is a popular NHS hot topic because it illustrates holistic, biopsychosocial and personalised care, key values interviewers look for. It connects to broader themes such as health inequalities, prevention, the role of the multidisciplinary team and pressure on the NHS. Being able to define it, give current examples and critically weigh the evidence shows the maturity and awareness expected of future doctors.
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