Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to require healthcare professionals to (a) assess the potential (i) loneliness and (ii) social isolation when interacting with patients who may be vulnerable to those challenges and (b) signpost those patients to (A) social prescribing services and (B) other civil society engagement opportunities.

Healthcare professionals have welcomed the support from social prescribers. Social prescribing is a key component of the NHS’s Universal Personalised Care and can work well for those who are lonely or socially isolated. Social prescribing link workers take a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. They connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support, such as sports and exercise projects, arts or nature-based activities. Social prescribing activities are commissioned locally, utilising community assets often in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.