Report attached.

Contact: Jo Robins, Consultant in Public Health

Jo Robins, Consultant in Public Health introduced and amplified her report (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which provided an update on progress. The Consultant in Public Health drew attention to the slides attached to the report at Appendix 1 which set out feedback following the Shropshire Social Prescribing External Evaluation conducted by Westminster University.

The Shropshire model mirrored the NHS England national guidance and had been identified as an exemplar site and had been invited to participate in regional events and national conferences.   

The Consultant in Public Health touched on the national picture following publication of the NHS Long Term Plan which gave a clear commitment to social prescribing and the creation of 1,000 social prescribing link workers nationally fully funded for 5 years and assigned to Primary Care Networks.

Jackie Jeffrey of the VCSA praised this great scheme and stressed that it had achieved a lot despite no funding or support for the voluntary sector so delivery was dependant on what the funding allowed.  Dr Julie Davies welcomed the opportunity to link in via Primary Care Networks.  Dr Povey appreciated that it was a challenge for the voluntary sector with restrictions on funding however he cautioned that there was a lot of unknowns in relation to PCNs including how they would be funded, but that no money would be forthcoming from the CCG. 

The Chairman welcomed the commitment to social prescribing and questioned whether agreement should be sought as to what social prescribing as a policy should look like.

RESOLVED:

1.    That endorsement be sought for a system wide approach for the creation of one joint model of social prescribing which builds on the Shropshire model, uses the learning from the evaluation findings and fulfils the guidance from NHS England linked to the Primary Care Networks (PCN).

2.    That support be sought to work with the CCG and PCN on a joint plan to achieve recommendation 4.