Lords Committee Discusses Social Prescribing, Mental Health, and Health Inequality as Inquiry Continues
On Monday 22 May the House of Lords Integration of Primary and Community Care Committee will continue their inquiry into the integration of primary and community care by holding two evidence sessions with witnesses including policy leads in mental health and health inequality.
The first session will examine how social prescribing, where patients are directed to community non-clinical interventions, could reduce pressure on health services and the extent to which integration can help facilitate this. The second session will consider whether integration can help facilitate interventions that can reduce health inequalities, and how successful health promotion strategies can be used in addressing the underlying causes of disease. Both sessions will also consider how Integrated Care systems support the various areas being discussed.
The first evidence session will start at 3.05pm and can be watched live or on demand at Parliament TV or in person in Committee Room 4, Palace of Westminster.
The witnesses giving evidence to the committee will be:
3.05pm
- Fatima Khan-Shah, Chair, People and Communities Workstream for the Fuller Report;
- Professor Sir Sam Everington OBE, Professor and GP, Bromley-by-Bow Partnership; and
- Ed Davie, Policy and Public Affairs Lead, Centre for Mental Health.
3.55pm
- Julia Weldon, Lead for the Health Inequalities Policy Advisory group, Association of Directors of Public Health;
- Tanya Rumney, Dietitian and Member at British Dietetic Association (BDA) and;
- David Buck, Senior Fellow, Public Health and Inequalities, The King’s Fund.
Questions may include:
- What benefits can social prescribing bring to the rest of the health service? What kinds of evidence are available for those benefits?
- Is there a single model of social prescribing and to what extent are social prescribing services being adopted? How successfully is social prescribing being integrated with other health, local authority, and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) services?
- How can mental health services be better integrated with the wider health service and other community services in England?
- To what extent are new integrated care systems and primary care networks facilitating the effective involvement and contributions of VCSE organisations and mental health services?
- What have proved to be the most significant socio-economic determinants of health and health inequalities?
- How can better integration facilitate health promotion strategies and reduce inequalities?
