West Lancs CVS is delighted to be celebrating the work of our Social Prescribing Service on this national Social Prescribing Day 2022.

The CVS West Lancs Social Prescribing Service started as a pilot scheme in Skelmersdale in April 2018.  Following its success, the scheme was expanded to cover the whole of West Lancs in 2020 and has been changing lives ever since.

Social Prescribing is a global movement which aims to get to the root causes of people’s ill health and bring about lasting change.  Our physical and mental health is affected by a wide range of things like money, housing, social connections, exercise, food, and family – and changes in these things can often have a big influence.

In West Lancs, any resident can be referred into the Social Prescribing Service by their GP. Under the scheme, a patient is given a ‘Social Prescription’, if the doctor thinks it may complement, or be more beneficial than, the purely medical route.

Our Social Prescribers then work with patients one to one to find out what non-medical issues are affecting their health and look at the range of local services that could help.  Together with the patient, they find the best social or physical activities in the community, help them connect with it, and then stay alongside them on their journey to improved wellbeing.  They will also make sure that feedback is given to the referring GP as to how the person are progressing.

This infographic summarises our recent work:

As our Social Prescribing Service goes from strength to strength, it’s so encouraging to hear from people whose lives have been changed through it:

and from the organisations that we work so closely with:

To find out more about the West Lancs Social Prescribing Service, email Jacqui Sutton, Development & Strategic Lead, at jacqui@wlcvs.org