Social Prescribing

What is Social Prescribing?

Did You Know? Throughout the UK, social prescribing projects are transforming wellbeing in the community and helping to ease pressure on traditional health and social care services. The aim of Social Prescribing is to help people make positive changes to their personal health, identify and link people with appropriate support in the community, and assist people with developing personal goals.

Social prescribing is ‘more than just medicine’ – it’s a new way to help people find support with their social, emotional and practical wellbeing.

CVS Tendring offers this free and confidential service that provides practical or emotional support via a team of Social Prescribing Link Workers. We want to help people make positive changes to their personal wellbeing, identify and link people with appropriate support in the community, and assist people with developing personal goals. We can take the time needed to listen, and put you in touch with the people and activities that might help you feel better.

What we do as Social Prescribing Link Workers?

Connecting you to the community – Giving you access to local support groups and activities like walking groups, dementia cafe, fun and friendship clubs, community gardens and volunteering opportunities
Welfare Calls – Whether you are recently discharged from hospital, If you are lonely or worried about someone else, we can give them a ring to see how we can help and support you
Signposting and Referrals – Linking you to other help and services for issues impacting your wellbeing from debt, housing and unemployment, to transport, home adaptions and mobility, to low level mental health and carers support
Non-Medical health and wellbeing activites – Helping you to take control of your health and wellbeing through exercise groups, weight management and referring to relevant services.
Urgent Community Response – Our Social Prescribing Link Workers works alongside the Urgent Community Response Team to provide urgent care to people in their homes which helps to avoid hospital admissions and enable people to live independently for longer.
End of Life support – Working with St Helena Hospice, we refer and signpost residents living with a terminal illness, and their families, to support resources such as symptom management, activities, benefit checks, counselling, shopping, and medication collection.

Social Prescribing Newsletters

Our Social Prescribing Newsletters are sent out on a monthly basis. If you are affiliated to us and would like to be added to our mailing list or wish to share any information, you can email spadmin@cvstendring.org.uk with the details.

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

How to get in touch with us?

By Telephone:
Main Office – 01255 425692
Dovercourt and Harwich Hub – 01255 554115

By Email: socialprescribing@cvstendring.org.uk

At your GP Surgery:
Did you know? You can ask your GP Surgery for a referral to your Social Prescribing Link Worker.

Are you an organisation and would like to refer a client? Simply complete this form and email it over to socialprescribing@cvstendring.org.uk
BLANK SOCIAL PRESCRIBING REFERRAL FORM (1)

A TRUE STORY

Getting Ian Home

End of Life Support

CVST’s End of Life Social Prescribing Link Worker is joined to St Helena Hospice and can refer and signpost Tendring residents living with a terminal illness, as well as their families, to additional support resources for issues such as symptom management, activities, benefit checks, counselling, shopping, and medication collection.

Urgent Community Response

Urgent Community Response (UCR) Service was previously known as Rapid Response.

This Service provides both care and clinical support to patients at short notice and is available 7 days a week and is accessible through Health and Social Care Professionals.

The aim of UCRS is to support the avoidance of unnecessary admissions to deep wards within the acute hospital by providing holistic, rapid assessments by a fully integrated therapy team, working across North East Essex.

This Service is extremely valuable to patients, who are able to work with our team to avoid an unnecessary hospital admission, or to be able to return home from hospital with support from both our Community Support Workers, overnight sitters of our clinical team.

The UCR Service is available to patients over the age of 18 years of age, who are registered with an Tendring GP. Patients are either currently in Hospital, who are needing some support, either clinical or care support to assist them when they go home, or they are patients, who are acutely unwell, suffering with either a Health or Social Care Crisis, who are at risk of hospital admission. Patients are referred into the Service in the Community, by any of our Health or Social Care Services e.g Doctor, Community Nurse or Hospice Care. The UCR Service is a short-term input, that aims to prevent unnecessary admissions and facilitating timely Hospital Discharges.