1.Summary. The budgeted £2 bnpa extra funding for mental health should be spent on proper social prescribing
Social prescribing has a big and growing evidence base as a cost-effective way of improving health and wellbeing of patients in their local community. It has been pioneered for decades by enlightened GPs in a few surgeries in England, such as Bromley by Bow in London, Cullumpton in Devon, and Brighton Health and Wellbeing Centre. GPs signpost patients to social interventions run by the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS), such as self-help groups, exercise classes, singing groups, dancing, advice centres, gardening and other clubs, for which participants may have to pay small sums.
The problem, which this paper addresses, is that these social ‘prescriptions’ are not officially part of the prescribing system, and are not written on a prescription form, as for drugs.

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