Agenda item

That the Committee notes progress and outcomes to date for the Social Prescribing service.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Thomas, Ms Bielsa from the Hyde Foundation, Mr Jones and Ms Haynes from the Tuppenny Barn.

Mrs Thomas presented her report to the Committee, providing an overview of what Social Prescribing is and how the service operates. She highlighted that the service was very much focused on the individual and what their needs are.

Ms Bielsa informed the Committee that the Hyde Foundation had been working with the Social Prescribing team for just over 12 months. During that period a very successful relationship had been established between all partners including the Successful Tenancies Team. Ms Bielsa, explained that the Successful Tenancies team worked with individuals who were suffering from social isolation, had mental health issues or were struggling to access services, through there work with the Social Prescribing team they had been able to help a much larger number of higher risk individuals.

Ms Bielsa commended the Social Prescriber team and the support they had given to a number of other projects. Feedback from residents has been very positive, many of whom would not be where they were today if it had not been for the supported given by the Social Prescribers. Ms Bielsa informed the Committee that the Social Prescribers were a key part of Hyde’s service provision and that they were very keen to continue working with them.

Mr Jones highlighted the benefits that he had experienced in Homeworking  over the past year including; improving relationships with service providers and partners; the ability to see more people as a result of not having to travel and the opportunity to look at the issue of Digital Inclusion.

Mr Jones presented two case studies to the Committee.

Mrs Haynes provided the Committee with an overview of the Horticultural Therapy work undertaken at the Tuppenny Barn and what it set out to achieve. She explained that the project had started in 2019, with clients referred to the service via a number of ways including; GP’s, Social Prescriber’s as well as self-referrals. Prior to the pandemic there had been up to ten clients a week accessing the service. During the lockdown period a weekly Zoom meeting was arranged to support clients, however, not everybody was able to access this service. For clients who were not able to access the online support the phonecalls were made to ensure support was still given.

The Chairman invited Cllr Bangert, as a trustee of the Tuppenny Barn to speak. Cllr Bangert commended the work undertaken at the Barn and emphasised the importance of supporting the people who attended. In addition she informed the Committee of the youth work undertaken at the Barn in partnership with the Bourne Community College.

Officer’s, with support from Ms Biesal, Mr Jones and Mrs Haynes responded to Members’ comments and questions as follows;

·         Mrs Haynes confirmed that the Tuppenny Barn had received funding from the Sussex Community Trust.

·         For the purpose of clarification Mrs Bushby informed the Committee that Public Health were the lead authority for Suicide Prevention.

·         Mrs Thomas informed the Committee that whilst the majority of housing referrals did come from Hyde Housing, the team also worked closely with Clarion but the number of referrals was much smaller.

·         On the matter of demographics and the age and sex of referrals, Mrs Thomas informed the Committee that the service worked with all ages. She agreed to circulate a breakdown outside the meeting.

The Chairman proposed that the recommendation set out in the report be amended to include the following addition; ‘The Committee thanks all those that deliver the service in the community. This was seconded by Cllr Bangert and supported by all.

The Committee voted in favour of the amended recommendation.

Resolved;

The Committee noted the progress and outcomes to date for the Social Prescribing service.

The Committee thanks all those that deliver the service in the community.