Voluntary organisations and community groups are invited to get involved with a new project that will support people’s health and wellbeing.
Shropshire’s Social Prescribing Programme is being led by Shropshire Council, Help2Change, and Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The programme involves working with GPs and community and voluntary organisations to provide non-medical support to help people take greater control over their own health. The aim is to prevent worsening health for people with long-term conditions, reduce the number of care interventions, and offer an alternative to people with non-medical conditions visiting their GP.
Dr Stuart Wright of Bridgnorth Medical Practice says, “This is a great opportunity to work in partnership with other agencies for the benefit of our patients. We’re pleased to be working with Shropshire Council to bring social prescribing to Bridgnorth, and hope that this is just the beginning of a closer collaborative working relationship.”
Shropshire’s new programme will enable doctors to refer those patients to a Social Prescribing Advisor who will work with the individual to access services and support in their own communities. This could be anything from taking part in group learning sessions, sports, arts activities, volunteering, gardening, befriending services to healthy eating advice. If you’d like to know more, email tracy.johnson@shropshire.gov.uk or call 01743 254683.
