Alasdair Ben Dixon, a chartered architect and Partner at architecture and design practice, Collective Works, discusses the firm’s recent work with local organisations to design and create social prescribing hubs that give patients more agency in their own health outcomes – by making clear the activities which can most benefit their wellbeing. He explains that ‘by addressing the root causes of ill health, and enhancing overall wellbeing, social prescribing has emerged as a powerful tool in the healthcare landscape’.
NHS Property Services is celebrating the delivery of 100 social prescribing sites to its partners across the country. One of the final projects to be completed, Ashfield Community Hub in Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, opened in July 2024, and now provides an accessible space for community groups and social prescribing link workers designed with their specific needs in mind.
Between 2019 and 2024, NHS Property Services has delivered a 100-site pilot scheme for Social Prescribing. Social prescribing helps support GPs, who use approximately 20% of their time tackling social issues which could be addressed directly by local community services. This connection can also give patients more agency in their own health outcomes – by making clear the activities which can most benefit their wellbeing.
Social prescribing aims to provide non-clinical routes to treatment for people with a range of social or health issues, giving them more choice and freedom to receive the support they need. Patients with multiple, complex needs can be referred by their GP to services within their local community, where their needs can be assessed, and appropriate groups, activities, and access to support services, recommended. By addressing the root causes of ill health, and enhancing overall wellbeing, social prescribing has emerged as a powerful tool in the healthcare landscape, and ultimately will take pressure off overstretched GPs and the emergency services.
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