Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m happy to move the motion on the paper before us today. As all of us recognise, our health and well-being depend on many factors: family, relationships, work, play, housing, education and money, to name but a few. The ways in which we manage when our health is affected are numerous. We know that we often feel better after a walk in the park, or socialising with friends, yet often our first port of call when we feel unwell is to see a doctor.

A report from Citizens Advice estimates that a fifth of GP time is spent on primarily social problems. It is not always possible for GPs to fully explore the personal circumstances or social determinants that may have triggered the attendance, resulting, on some occasions, in an over-reliance on medical intervention. In Wales we have a vast array of non-clinical community services that offer real health and well-being benefits, and these services and activities are, of course, diverse in their nature. They range from rambling groups and befriending support, to debt counselling and parenting classes. These types of activity all support and work alongside clinical care, or even act as an alternative to medication, and the benefits of community-based support and activities can be numerous. For example, they can lead to improvement in physical health; reductions in the symptoms of anxiety or depression; the acquisition of learning, new interests and skills; a reduction in social isolation and loneliness; and, of course, increased sociability and community skills. And all of these things can lead to increased self-esteem, confidence and empowerment.

People who benefit from these services often go on to act as volunteers themselves, increasing community capacity and resilience. People and professionals may not be aware, though, of the potential health and well-being benefits of these services, or how to access them in the first place. I should indicate at this point that I’m happy and the Government will support the Conservative Party’s amendment, noting the King’s Fund definition of social prescribing as

‘a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services.’

But, that said, I don’t think we should overly worry about definitions at this point, especially ones that look through the lens of the national health service rather than the person who needs care and support, including, of course, the care and support they can access for themselves. Social prescribing really is simply a term for a mechanism that links people with their community services and opportunities that should help them to improve their general health and well-being, but usually recognised social prescribing schemes enable the referral of an individual to a link worker to work together with them to agree a non-clinical social prescription to improve their health and well-being.

A survey carried out on behalf of Nesta found that four in five GPs think social prescriptions alongside medical prescriptions should be available from GP surgeries. They say it would allow them to concentrate on the patient’s medical problems and treatment rather than the social issues that, often, they can do little about. As the start of our motion notes, a variety of social prescribing or community referral schemes already exist or are in development across Wales. They’re an important intervention in their own right and can help support people to take responsibility for their own health by accessing that community-based support, and reduce reliance on statutory services.

Of course, the national exercise referral scheme is one of the best known of such schemes. It’s a Welsh Government-funded scheme delivered by Public Health Wales, and it’s been developed to standardise exercise referral opportunities across all local authorities and health boards here in Wales. The scheme will successfully support clients with a chronic condition or who are at risk of developing chronic disease.

Locally, through primary care clusters, there is evidence of an investment in social prescribing models based on roles that help people to assess their well-being needs and agree with them what local care and support will help to meet those needs. In Torfaen, for example, social prescribers are located in GP surgeries and receive referrals from anyone experiencing a social issue that is impacting on their physical or mental health. The patient has the opportunity to tell their whole story, sometimes for the first time, and to work with a social prescriber to decide how best to resolve those issues. After the recognised success of the north Torfaen social prescriber, the scheme was extended to south Torfaen in January this year.

Another example is local area co-ordination in Swansea that seeks to reduce the pressure on statutory services by fostering local relationships and assistance. The programme works with individuals, families, and carers of any age, and enables them to achieve their idea of a good life. That, of course, will differ for different people and communities. The programme provides information and advice to anyone who accesses it. It also provides more in depth, one-to-one, input to people who might be older, disabled, or have mental health problems or be excluded in some way. There are, of course, other examples across Wales of programmes that link people to the local, non-clinical services they need.

As the motion indicates, we’ll continue to consider the priorities for the further promotion of social prescribing across Wales, because access to these services needs to be more systematic and seen as a normal part of our approach to health and well-being—