Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of social prescribing; and whether her Department issues guidance on which models provide the most effective treatment.

As a relatively new programme, the evidence base around nationally linked social prescribing is still evolving and robust quantitative evidence is limited. However, a growing body of work is suggestive of positive effects. The Department continues to work to understand the effectiveness of social prescribing to enhance physical and mental health and wellbeing, building on existing positive local evidence.

The Department of Health and Social Care works on the Green Social Prescribing programme established with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to increase the use and connection to the natural environment to tackle mental ill health. The Department of Health and Social Care funds the evaluation and research element including research studies into angling and outdoor swimming.

The Department funds via grant the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP). Their role is to support and promote social prescribing at a local and national level and develop the evidence base. A range of research into the effectiveness of social prescribing published by NASP is available at the following link:

https://socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/read-the-evidence/