MPs call for national social prescribing strategy

NHS England should develop a national strategy for social prescribing to support GPs who are unconfident or unfamiliar with existing social prescription pathways, MPs have said.

A national strategy should improve frontline clinical practitioners’ understanding ‘of the benefits of social prescribing and to improve their confidence in offering social and community-based solutions’ to unmet social needs, they said.

The recommendation, made today (19 January) by the Health and Social Care Select Committee, comes as part of its wider report on the health impact low quality tenancies have on renters and social housing tenants.

MPs found that increased use of social prescribing can ‘relieve pressure on clinical pathways and protect good health’, but noted that many GPs ‘do not feel as confident working with social prescription pathways’ as they do with clinical pathways.

Building confidence in recommending social prescribing is ‘key’ to creating ‘health-enhancing communities’, they concluded.

The report drew attention to the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by mould in a housing association property.

In 2022, Pulse PCN reported that the neighbouring PCN would begin sending social prescribers to confirm details of distressing or inadequate housing to better inform letters to housing agencies in response.

The Committee also welcomed Government measures proposed in Awaab’s law to protect social sector tenants from the worst impacts of unhealthy homes, and recommended quick action and to consider if similar safeguards could be extended to tenants in private rents.

Other key recommendations from the report include:

• Requiring developers to aim higher, with quality housing and development that protects residents’ health
• Launching a Government consultation on the content of existing design and space standards as they relate to health
• Reconsider the case for mandating a public health representative to be included on an ICB – a recommendation previously rejected by government.

Committee chair and MP Steve Brine said: ‘Poor quality homes can have a catastrophic impact on the health of the those who live in them. The death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from a respiratory condition caused by mould in his home should leave Ministers in no doubt that tenants in both the social and private rented sectors deserve greater protection by law.’

He added: ‘Our report welcomes the government’s plan to introduce Awaab’s law for tenants in the social sector. We urge swift action on the outcome of the consultation, but the government must also consider safeguards for tenants in the private sector where risks of damp and mould can pose an immediate danger to health.

‘Creating healthy places to live to prevent ill-health among the population must take priority for Ministers. Not only will that reduce pressures on the NHS but will save vast sums spent each year on treating people with preventable illness.’