Social prescribing is a way for local agencies to refer people to a link worker. Link workers give people time, focusing on ‘what matters to me’ and taking a holistic approach to people’s health and wellbeing. They connect people to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support.
Ardens has developed several resources to support practices with recording and monitoring activities for social prescribing.
Referring to Social Prescribing
It is important that you use the correct social prescribing referral code for Network Contract DES requirements. This can be found within all of the Ardens Chronic Disease templates as well as the Social Prescribing and Health Coaching template:
Please note - "offer of social prescribing" does not count towards achievement for Network Contract DES requirements.
Recording Information for Social Prescribing
The Ardens Social Prescribing and Health Coaching clinical template has been designed to standardise consultations, ensuring you are following the latest national guidelines and recording accurate coding of data for the national contract requirements.
To locate the Ardens Social Prescribing and Health Coaching template, access the relevant patient record. Open a new consultation and select the Run Template option (if not in consultations, click on the Add button on the EMIS ribbon, followed by Data Using Template option).
This will open the Template Picker screen. If you have accessed any templates before, these will display to the left of the screen. Search for the template by typing “social” in the search box.
This will return the Social Prescribing and Health Coaching (Ardens) template (alternatively select the Ardens > Consultation templates > Social folder to the right of the screen).
When you launch the template, you may be presented with the 'Consultation Properties' screen, here you may wish to change the Consultation Type.
The template has been divided into pages, to make it easy to navigate. Please remember you only need to capture the data needed at that time.
There is a COVID 19 page to capture relevant information if the patient is shielding.
The Social Prescribing page enables recording of information such as who the patient is being seen by, anxiety and depression screening, observations on the patients mood, carer information and a section for writing up your agreed plan.
The recognised referral code for Network Contract DES is highlighted in red (note - red text relates to payment). Any information you see on the right-hand side of a template in blue writing, is the information from when that code was last entered on the patients record. Clicking the arrow to the right of this information will open a more detailed view.
The Lifestyle page provides sections for capturing alcohol, diet, exercise, smoking and employment details. Clicking on the blue hyperlinks will take you to external websites for useful leaflets, or general information.
The Housing and Activities page contains sections around housing, personal activity capabilities, legal and finance information, and vulnerability such as falls, safeguarding and domestic violence or abuse. The final section enables you to record your impression on their ability to cope and whether they would benefit from any aids or equipment.
There is a Signposting + referrals page for you to document if you are referring to additional services, such as emergency services, other practice staff, elderly, lifestyle, or other healthcare services. You are also able to record the patients’ goals and further support needed, along with the follow up plan.
The Patient Activation Measure page contains the link to the questionnaire which you can print out for your patient, with an area for recording the results.
The ONS4 page provides a link for more information about ONS4 and a section to complete an assessment. You may wish to share the document on the Resources page with your patient which gives detailed information around what social prescribing is all about.
Ardens Social Prescribing Searches
There are various searches that might be useful to support practices with social prescribing:
- Appointment Related Searches – includes searches to support practices in identifying patients who may benefit from a social prescribing referral.
If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact Ardens support on: support-emis@ardens.org.uk