I’m pleased to take part in this very important debate on social prescribing.

Now, as young doctors over the decades, we’re all taught that there are four aspects to the health of a patient: yes, physical, psychological, but also not forgetting social and spiritual aspects. Remembering all of those influences on the health of people directs us to think about what makes people ill in the first place and makes us think about the barriers that work against their recovery.

I remember complaining to the local authority, many years ago now, as a conscientious GP, about the condition of housing of my patients, which was affecting their health, and those complaints were completely ignored. This is one of the reasons why I stood for the council in the first place. As a county councillor then, not as a doctor, I got answers to my complaints about the condition of housing and a plan to improve the situation. That’s what my understanding is, basically, of social prescribing—that GPs and nurses in the community can refer people to projects that tackle their illness, looking at the bigger picture of their health in its entirety, referring people, therefore, to the voluntary sector, most often, such as arts activities, volunteering, gardening, cooking, healthy eating advice and a wide range of sporting activities, such as walking. One of the easiest things to do is to just walk more. I always preach in this place about the 10,000 steps that we need to walk every day—walking. Keeping fit is just as good as antidepressant medication when the depression is not so severe.

The aim of social prescribing is to fill a vacuum in many aspects of society, with isolation and loneliness increasing—that’s why we are holding this inquiry as a health committee—despite all of our computers and the internet, because we recognise there is more to the recovery of our patients than simply physical issues.

Many years ago, our chapels and churches were very active here in Wales, with hundreds of people attending every Sunday, and some meetings being held every night of the week too, with a full and broad range of activities. Such close-knit communities were naturally an assistance to many people who were suffering depression and loneliness, but things changed and we need solutions to the same spiritual requirements today.

Very often, as a GP, I feel a little like a minister or a vicar in advising my patients, but forgetting the social and spiritual aspects, and focusing only on the physical, the tablets and the surgery is also real neglect, which can undermine the recovery of our patients.

We look forward to enhancing social prescribing—and we support the Government in this regard—and tackling or getting to grips with evidence of its effectiveness despite how difficult it is to get hold of that evidence. Thank you very much.