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Referral
Social Prescribing – Wellbeing Exeter
This service is currently available via the following Exeter surgeries:
- St Thomas
- Exwick
- Foxhayes
- Mount Pleasant
- Pinhoe
- Wonford Green
- Barnfield Hill
- St Leonards
- Westbank
- Topsham
- Whipton
- Heavitree
- South Lawn
- Southernhay
- Hill Barton
- ISCA
Social prescribing is a means of enabling primary care services to refer patients with social, emotional or practical needs to a range of local support and services, often provided by the voluntary and community sector.
GP practices (listed above) who identify patients who might benefit from social support and engagement can refer them to the Wellbeing Exeter social prescribing project.
Wellbeing Exeter will pair your patient with an experienced 'Community Connector' who can help your patient to:
- Develop their social connections,
- Find new hobbies, interests and activities
- Become more active
- Eat more healthily
- Understand and manage their long term health conditions
- Get more involved in their community
- Access other services and support
Referral is straightforward, and the GP will receive brief feedback at the end of the intervention.
There is more information and research summaries about social prescribing on the Social care institute for excellence (SCIE) website here.
Referrals to Wellbeing Exeter can be made, with the patient's consent. A downloadable referral form is available here:
- Wellbeing Exeter referral form - no merge fields
- Wellbeing Exeter referral form - Systmone
- Wellbeing Exeter referral form - Emis WEB
Referrals should be emailed to: westbank.wellbeingexeter@nhs.net
Alternatively you can ring 01392 823690.
Please ensure that you use the Read Code: 8T09 (EMIS) or XaaEC (SystemOne) when making and recording your referral, and that you include the patient's NHS number on the referral.
If you would like further information about the service or a referral please contact:
- Lucy de Garis at Westbank
- 01392 824752 option 2, followed by option 2 or
- Lisa Shrimpton at Age UK Exeter
- 01392 202092
A diagram to show the referral process is available here
How it works:
- The referral is received and allocated to a Community Connector, each of whom is linked to one of the participating Exeter practices
- The Community Connector and patient meet to discuss how the service might best support him or her to improve their confidence, develop their social connections and activity, find new opportunities etc.
- The Community Connector and patient meet and work together on some agreed goals over a period of several weeks; usually 2-5 meetings / calls, but this is flexible
- At the end of the intervention, some brief feedback is agreed and is shared with you, the GP
There is an information leaflet here for you to download and print for your patient.
Please ensure you have their consent for the referral.
The Wellbeing Exeter project is being delivered as part of the Integrated Care Exeter (ICE) programme by a consortium of local voluntary and community sector organisations. The Community Connectors are employed and managed by Westbank and Age UK Exeter working in partnership.
The project runs until the end of March 2018, although ongoing funding to continue is anticipated. An extensive evaluation is being run by Plymouth University alongside the project, so that an assessment can be made about the benefits of the approach for patients and reduction in demand and cost to the NHS.
For more information about the overall Wellbeing Exeter programme and the evaluation, please contact the Wellbeing Exeter Coordinator:
- Ella on: 01392 202055
- Ella.huffman@exetercvs.org.uk
Pathway Group
This guideline has been signed off on behalf of NHS Devon.
Publication date: February 2019
