Report of the Director of Public Health

This report provides an overview of delivery of social prescribing in Manchester. It outlines how the Be Well service works, giving examples of good practice in the delivery of social prescribing (including information on how the service works with primary care to support patients), and highlighting case studies of the benefits of the service for Manchester residents.

The report also summarises the findings of the recently completed independent evaluation of Manchester’s Prevention Programme, and other social prescribing initiatives currently being developed and delivered within Manchester and Greater Manchester. The next steps in developing and delivering Manchester’s social prescribing and wellbeing support provision within the context of the Population Health Covid-19 Recovery Plan and Manchester’s Wellbeing Model are outlined.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Public Health that provided an overview of delivery of social prescribing in Manchester.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an outline of how the Be Well service worked;

·         Examples of good practice in the delivery of social prescribing;

·         Highlighting case studies of the benefits of the service for Manchester residents;

·         A summary of the findings of the independent evaluation of Manchester’s Prevention Programme, and other social prescribing initiatives currently being developed and delivered within both Manchester and Greater Manchester; and

·         Describing the next steps in developing and delivering Manchester’s social prescribing and wellbeing support provision within the context of the Population Health Covid-19 Recovery Plan and Manchester’s Wellbeing Model.

The Committee further received a presentation from Jay Patient, Be Well Service Manager, Big Life Group that provided an overview of:

·         The aims and values of the Be Well Service;

·         Access;

·         Pathways within Be Well;

·         Progression within service since initial commissioning;

·         Outcomes;

·         Examples of good practice; and

·         Aims for 2022.

The Committee then heard from George Ramsay and Gaynor Heaton, residents of Manchester. Both spoke eloquently of their experience of engaging with the Be Well service. They articulated the circumstances which led them to engage with the service and the range of positive outcomes that they had achieved as a result. The Chair on behalf of the Committee thanked both contributors for attending the meeting and sharing their experiences.  

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Recognising the important work of the Be Well service and paying tribute to all of the staff involved;

·         What work was being done to support BAME residents;

·         Noting that the number of males accessing the Be Well service was relatively low and what was being done to address this;

·         Were Coaches Trauma Informed trained and how would they support an individual who was neurodivergent (defined as differing in mental or neurological function from what was considered typical or normal);

·         Stating that the term ‘disparities’ should not be used when referring to health outcomes, adding that the term ‘inequalities’ was the preferred term and this was supported by Professor Michael Marmot;

·         Noting that from April 2020, 10 of Manchester’s 14 PCNs had made formal arrangements for Big Life Group to employ and manage their social prescribing link workers, how would the patients of the 4 that had not made the formal arrangement access social prescribing opportunities;

·         The importance of a wider understanding of social prescribing across other services: and

·         Concern about access to mental health services in the city and, while welcoming the benefits of social prescribing, commenting that it was important that this was not used to cover up gaps in mental health provision.

Jay Patient, Be Well Service Manager, Big Life Group advised that there were many positive examples of where informal support groups had been developed that had built upon local connections and resilience, making particular reference to the South Asian Woman’s Group in Longsight. She further clarified that the data in the presentation for the number of referrals for Central and South were combined. In regard to the point raised regarding the relatively lower number of male referrals to the service she advised this was recognised and consideration was being given as to how best promote this service and target the male audience. She further added that they would review the literature that was provided to encourage the take up amongst the male population. The Consultant in Public Health Medicine commented that this gender disparity was reflected across the wider health service and this was not unique to the Be Well service.

Jay Patient, Be Well Service Manager, Big Life Group further advised that the Coaches were from a wide variety of different professional and ethnic back grounds with a broad skills set. She stated that they were Trauma Informed trained. She added that they had established relationships with specialist providers and services to refer anyone who was identified as neurodivergent to ensure that they were signposted to the most appropriate source of support. 

The Consultant in Public Health Medicine stated that people could be referred to the Be Well service from other services and not just GPs, adding that the 4 PCNs that had not made formal arrangements for Big Life Group could still refer a patient if they felt it was appropriate. She further commented that it was anticipated that referrals to and demand for this service would increase, noting the impact of the pandemic and other recent global issues on people’s mental health. She stated that consideration needed to be given to how this service could be commissioned in future years and build upon the success reported.  She reported that a Mental Wellbeing Strategy would be developed during the year, looking at what could be done to support people’s mental health outside of clinical mental health services.  She advised that a lot of other things could be done to improve mental health, including for people who had clinical anxiety or depression, in addition to ensuring that the clinical mental health services were available where these were needed, noting that some people would benefit from both social prescribing and talking therapies.

In concluding this item of business, the Chair reiterated the Committee’s appreciation to all of the invited guests for attending the meeting and sharing their personal experiences. She stated that the Committee would be inviting a future update report on the service with particular reference to any environmental programmes that were offered, noting the important relationship between green spaces and mental health.

Decision

To note the report and presentation and recommend that a future update report is added to the Committee’s Work Programme for consideration at an appropriate time.