Start Date:  June 2014   End Date:  Sept 2015   Status: Completed

Our current health system is based on restoring people to good health, where treatment takes place in hospitals, is delivered by specialised doctors and nurses, and the patient often plays a passive role (Horne et al, 2013). Whilst this model is still extremely relevant, growing social inequalities and the increase in long term conditions call for a different approach (Brandling and House 2007).

Social prescribing is an attempt to systematically build a health pathway that makes use of community organisations as assets for the delivery of health and well-being interventions where patients have the opportunity to express their health concerns to a coordinator and decide the type of activity in the community they want to be referred to. The project involved 23 GP surgeries in City and Hackney who referred patients facing isolation, the elderly, and people with diabetes type 2 to a coordinator who met and assess patients' needs and jointly drew a plan involving the use of services delivered by community organisations within the borough.

This study measured a range of outcomes (wellbeing, anxiety/depression and social integration and support) for patients who attended social prescribing versus people with similar characteristics who attended standard care through their GP surgeries. Moreover, the study also evaluated the process of social prescribing by collecting opinions and views from patients with varied degree of participation in activities on the ground (qualitative in-depth interviews), by collecting reflections from coordinators (focus groups) and via events with stakeholders to capture the learning from the development of social prescribing. Finally, a cost-utility analysis was undertaken across the intervention and control areas.

This evaluation was carried out in close collaboration with the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group and Queen Mary University (Blizard Institute) which played a key part in both outcome and process evaluations, particularly in relation to data collection at baseline and follow up in intervention areas, some qualitative interviews with patients and observational work.