The toolkit can be helpful for anyone wanting to understand how to gather data and evaluate the impact of a social prescribing service.

However, it is aimed primarily at those who would be supporting or undertaking the evaluation and collecting the data.

This is likely to be SP managers, PCN managers, SPLWs and possibly people involved in data management, business intelligence or analytics. It may also be useful for commissioners and those helping set up the infrastructure around evaluating social prescribing at a borough or ICB level.

The toolkit largely focuses on the evaluation of social prescribing services that connect with primary care. However, it may also be useful for all connector type services across settings, to support with thinking about how to evaluate impact.

The toolkit may also be useful for academic institutions who are thinking about what data should be collected for initiatives that include or are similar to social prescribing and setting up a framework for evaluation or research.

In building this toolkit we used the below principles as a foundation: 

Key working principles

1. Be useful across contexts and funding scenarios – across different SP employers, referral and IT systems and whether there is funding or not for evaluation
2. Share helpful real life examples, focusing on how challenges have been overcome – not just best practice
3. Be simple, not complicated – easy to understand
4. Reflect the true purpose of social prescribing to support people with the social determinants and be the bridge into the community – not just relieving pressure on healthcare
5. Aligns with  the national Minimum dataset work by NHS England – to ensure the same guidance is given so standardised high quality data can be captured
6. Considers the wider context of primary care and social prescribing – emphasises SP isn’t an add on
7. Adds value for all partners
8. Gives examples of both reactive and proactive SP activities/delivery models in terms of how they can be evaluated

Our development process

View our development process for this toolkit in this slide pack.

People involved in the co-production of the toolkit

• Caitlin Bays (SP Manager Barnet – VCSE employer)
• Ross Lambdon (PCN HI lead and AD for transformation – South Fulham PCN)
• Sophie Mizen (Transformation and Operations Manager – South Fulham PCN)
• Anne Clarke (SP Lead for Bromley, Penge PCN)
• Sen Siva (SPLW at QHS Social Prescribing Service – North Southwark)
• Gaynor Stephensen (SPLW at IHL – South Southwark)
• Vinaya Kulkarni (SP manager – Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent – Age UK)
• Fatema Al-Ansare (SPLW – South Fulham PCN)

A range of stakeholders including clinicians, SP managers, and ICB, regional and national colleagues also fed back on the design and content.