Agenda item

The areas in the report and outcomes from implementing Social Prescribing and Local Voluntary Partnerships in Croydon address the following priorities in our Health and Wellbeing strategy: 

·       Strong, engaged, inclusive and well connected communities

·       Mental wellbeing and good mental health are seen as a driver of health

·       Get more people more active, more often

·       A stronger focus on prevention

·       The right people, in the right place, at the right time

The Group Operational Manager, Brian Dickens, introduced the report and did a presentation for the Board explaining that the Croydon Social P had been built on creating engagement opportunities, providing support with the aim of affecting long term behavioural change and developing local opportunities to assist in health self-management.

The Director of Alliance Programme, Rachel Soni, provided an update for the Board regarding the Local Voluntary Partnership. It was explained that there was funding available up to £5,000 per project and it was hoped that all funding would be distributed by the end of July 2019.

Councillor Hopley explained that there were initial concerns in Purley; however, it was a fantastic initiative and the community within the ward, including local GPs, were noticing the positive impact. She noted that the Selsdon ward had similar concerns to those in Purley and invited them to network with the Purley Ward Councillors. She thanked everybody involved for their hard work and added that data collection would be key to ensure the data was utilised by all services. The Group Operational Manager noted that data was being collected in three ways; the GPs were using an online system to track the changes made, there was an independent research team working closely with NHS England and CCG, and community orientated research was also being collected.

Councillor Avis stated that she was very supportive of the work; however, noted concern that large, private businesses (such as; Apple, Barclays and Facebook) were in partnership. As a local authority, it was important to ensure that these businesses were in-line with the ethical guidelines and paid the living wage. The Group Operational Manager confirmed that the relevant checks were being made.

The Director of Public Health explained that it was positive to have a large number of GPs supportive of the scheme and she was pleased to see all the different partnerships and sectors that were involved. It was noted that sustainability should be focused on to ensure that it was still relevant and active in 10 years’ time.

The Croydon Voluntary Action representative, Steve Phaure, echoed the Director of Public Health’s comments regarding sustainability and added that it was important to find a sustainable way to support the funding process for at least five years and engage with the community through organised activities.

The Croydon Health Services NHS Trust representative, Michael Bell, noted that in 2014/15 NHS England were promoting the scheme and it was positive that the London Borough of Croydon had embraced it. He explained that the London Health Commission had completed their work in 2010-12, which had mirrored the work of Social Prescribing. The programme was unfortunately stopped; however, a lot of positive work had been completed which could be utilised through the Social Prescribing.

In response to Councillor Bird it was noted that the full data collected would be reported to the Health & Wellbeing Board at the end of 2019.

RESOLVED – That the Board agreed to:

1)    Note the progress made to date on embedding social prescribing – Croydon’s ‘Social P’ across the health and care system in Croydon, and

2)    Note the roll out of the Local Voluntary Partnership (LVP) initiative since January.