The impact of social prescribing on health service use and costs

Our new report, The Impact of Social Prescribing on Health Service Use and Costs: Examples of local evaluations in practice suggests that there is strong and growing evidence that social prescribing services can lead to substantial reductions in avoidable GP appointments, hospital admissions and A&E attendances.

The report builds on an existing body of evidence that social prescribing directly improves people’s health, strengthens communities and offers value for money. Looking at data from nine areas of England, its findings include:  

• a 42.2% reduction in GP appointments among 1,751 patients who accessed social prescribing in Tameside and Glossop. 
• a 15.4%–23.6% reduction in A&E attendances among 5,908 patients who accessed social prescribing in Kent. 
• In Kirklees and Rotherham, frequent users of healthcare services saw GP visits and A&E attendances reduce substantially following social prescribing interventions. 

The report also suggested that social prescribing can have a positive economic impact. In Newcastle, secondary care costs were 9.4% lower compared to a matched control group where social prescribing was not available. In Rotherham, a pre and post analysis on frequent users reported a reduction in costs up to 39% for A&E attendances.

The report’s findings have different methodologies and vary across regions, but overall most of the studies suggest that connecting people to groups, services and activities in their communities can reduce pressure on NHS services. In some cases, studies show a rise in health service use for patients who rarely use health services, but reductions for those who use them frequently. 

Social prescribing in the NHS typically involves a trained Link Worker helping patients develop a personalised plan to improve their health and wellbeing, and connecting them to local groups and services that can help. This is based on what matters to each patient, and usually involves addressing underlying social factors, including loneliness, isolation or problems with debt or housing. 

NASP is recommending that social prescribing continues to be expanded so it is available to patients across a wider range of NHS care and treatment services.