A report released today by the Health Improvement Commission shows that the Bailiwick Social Prescribing (BSP) scheme has integrated successfully into local healthcare, is strongly endorsed by GPs and Public Health Services and can positively impact on people’s health and well-being.
The report was released at an event at Les Cotils, where the findings of the evaluation of the pilot scheme were presented by the project’s steering group to an audience of over 80 people, including many of our community partners.
Launched in summer 2021, BSP is a social prescribing scheme which helps people who have a non-medical issue which is impacting their health, to improve their health and wellbeing. It does this through Link Workers providing people with personalised support to access social and community groups, voluntary organisations, and statutory services, including a range of activities from physical activity and crafts to singing and green volunteering, as well as support to find help with issues such as housing, financial worries and bereavement.
BSP was funded for four years by the Guernsey Community Foundation and Public Health Services, and more recently the Social Investment Fund alongside other private and charitable donations. The scheme has operated from the Health Improvement Commission since October 2020 and has provided GPs at all local surgeries with a new opportunity to refer patients to social prescribing alongside or instead of traditional medical approaches.
Analysing data from the project’s launch until December 2023, the evaluation examined the scheme’s feasibility, implementation and promise to impact people’s well-being. It combined anonymised data from BSP clients, case studies, a GP survey, primary care information, interviews with stakeholders and a workshop. Data were analysed independently by the Health Intelligence unit and interviews were conducted by a local MSc student .
Report Headlines.
The BSP model is feasible and reaches people with non-medical needs that are impacting their health.
· 656 people ranging in age from 18 to 90+, but predominantly people of working age, were referred by a health practitioner to BSP with a range of issues that were impacting on their health, such as mental wellbeing, social isolation, health behaviours and employment.
· Link Workers had over 6000 contacts with clients and made 991 referrals to BSP partner organisations which include community groups, third sector organisations and statutory services.
BSP has strong endorsement from Primary Care, community partners and patients.
· All three Primary Care groups partner with BSP. 96% of eligible GPs have referred patients to the scheme. Healthy Minds also refers to BSP.
· 88% of GP survey respondents rated BSP as ‘extremely important’ to the local health system and 92% supported BSP as a key feature of the local Primary Care offer.
· Interviews with GPs and workshops held with partner organisations confirmed strong and consistent support for the way in which BSP supported individuals, the organisations involved, primary care practices and the wider community.
There is high demand for BSP which exceeds current scheme capacity.
· Monthly referrals have tripled over the last three years. In the second half of 2023, there was an average of 34 referrals per month.
· Referral rates exceed current Link Worker capacity and there is a waiting list which GPs identify as a challenge to patient engagement. Greater Link Worker capacity is needed to meet demand.
BSP shows promise to positively contribute to people’s health and wellbeing as well as the non-medical social factors that shape it.
· On average, the wellbeing scores of BSP clients measured before and after engagement with BSP show that it was likely to be having a positive impact.
· 61% of people who engaged with BSP, from two Primary Care groups where attendance data were available, had fewer GP appointments (4.1 fewer appointments on average) in the 12 months after BSP engagement compared to the 12 months before.
· Whilst caution is needed on attributing these impacts solely to BSP, case studies, interviews and workshop findings provide consistent reports of positive health and social outcomes for BSP clients. There was also evidence of extensive positive ‘ripple effects’ of BSP on individuals, their families, BSP partner organisations and the community.
The report concludes that BSP can contribute to a wide range of States of Guernsey strategic objectives from the transformation of health and care to the prevention of ill health, the improvement of physical and mental health, social isolation, housing, and employment. It can be meaningful contributor to better health, social and community well-being, and the challenges the Bailiwick faces in terms of an ageing population and increasing demand on health services.
We were delighted to see, from a range of perspectives, that BSP makes important and unique contributions to people’s health and well-being and that it is strongly supported by GPs and community stakeholders. The pilot scheme has provided strong evidence for BSP to become an embedded part of a more prevention-focused local healthcare system.]
The project has been a collaborative effort between The Health Improvement Commission, the Guernsey Community Foundation, Social Investment Fund, Public Health, Primary Care, the third sector and the community and we are grateful to everyone who has contributed to BSP’s funding, development and delivery.”
The Foundation is proud to have championed social prescribing when the idea for a local service was first brought to us in 2018. We are immensely grateful to the Health Improvement Commission for taking on the Bailiwick Social Prescribing Scheme at our request and making such a success of it. Over the years we have provided the Scheme with significant funding – both directly, through our Grants Programme, and via co-funding agreements we’ve arranged with a private charitable trust – and it is gratifying to see just how many lives have been improved thanks to the Scheme’s link workers.
SIF agreed to fund the last 18 months of the Bailiwick Social Prescribing Scheme’s pilot phase, whilst the impact of the project was being assessed. We are delighted with the results and to see that social prescribing has become embedded within our local healthcare system, benefiting hundreds of patients.”
The Committee for Health & Social Care, through Public Health Services, have been very pleased to support the pilot programme to develop a local Bailiwick Social Prescribing scheme. This partnership working with the Third Sector is helping transform how we manage health and wellbeing from a focus on ill health to a wider consideration of what constitutes better health for islanders. I would like to express my appreciation to the team at Bailiwick Social Prescribing, the Health Improvement Commission, the Guernsey Community Foundation and the Social Investment Fund for their invaluable contribution in establishing this programme. I am confident that this will contribute to enhancing the health and wellbeing of islanders for years to come.’
Thank you from everyone at Queens Road for the amazing work done by the BSP team. The Social Prescribing programme has been transformative in helping GPs to address health issues where the underlying problem is a practical, social or emotional difficulty in someone’s life. Prior to BSP we used to struggle to help in these situations, resulting in people developing physical and mental health problems and requiring additional medication. Now we are able to refer to BSP, it is wonderful to see the rapid improvements in physical and mental wellbeing in our patients by providing solutions that could only be provided through social prescribing.
A full copy of the evaluation report can be found here Bailiwick Social Prescribing Pilot Evaluation Report