GP Referrals

Patients from the Culbin and Varis Practices at Forres Health and Care Centre and patients from Maryhill Practice in Elgin were referred to the scheme by their GP. The GP Practicescollected anonymous data on whether participants healthcare use, such as prescriptions, medications,  and clinical appointments had reduced in the year of the scheme compared to the period before.  This let us show that a social prescribing scheme can be cost saving for the NHS. The self-management activities were also open to members of Affa Sair as well as those referred by GPs. Those participants were not compelled to give anonymous data but were given the chance to tell how their lives have changed by taking part.

We obtained funding in 2023 from the Scottish Government and the Health and Social Care Alliance in Scotland to run the first chronic pain-specific social prescribing scheme in Scotland.  We worked with the quality improvement and assurance team (QIAT) at NHS Grampian to run a service evaluation allowing them to objectively assess how impactful social prescribing was in chronic pain patients.

This self management scheme gave participants the freedom to try non-pharmaceutical methods of managing their chronic pain without any charges and for us to measure how chronic pain interferes with and affects their quality of life. The scheme gave access to art therapy, guided exercise classes, hydrotherapy sessions, allotment access, walking groups, guided meditations and other social events free-of-charge.