News
New national academy for social prescribing
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has set out his ambition for every patient in the country to have access to social prescribing schemes on the NHS, by funding a new National Academy for Social Prescribing. He stated that
This academy is much more important than any one individual. It’s about all of us in health, arts, culture, sport, communities coming together around one simple principle: that prevention is better than cure
The independent academy will receive £5 million of government funding and will be led by Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, the outgoing Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners. It has been developed in partnership across government, with Sport England, Arts Council England and a range of voluntary sector partners.
The National Academy for Social Prescribing will work to:
- standardise the quality and range of social prescribing available to patients across the country
- increase awareness of the benefits of social prescribing by building and promoting the evidence base
- develop and share best practice, as well as looking at new models and sources for funding
- bring together all partners from health, housing and local government with arts, culture and sporting organisations to maximise the role of social prescribing
- focus on developing training and accreditation across sectors