Defining Best Practice in Social Prescribing
How can social prescribing services demonstrate quality, consistency and impact while remaining person-centred?
These were the key themes explored in the webinar Defining Best Practice in Social Prescribing, hosted by Roger Chapman, Head of Service for the matrix Standard. Joining him were Monica Boulton, Social Prescribing Expert, and Strategic Lead for Healthcare Integration and Neighbourhood Health at the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), and Sonia Townend, Head of Digital Systems at Ways to Wellness.
NASP is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to advancing social prescribing, connecting partners and strengthening the evidence base for the sector. Ways to Wellness is a pioneering social prescribing provider that develops innovative approaches to tackling health inequalities through personalised support.
The webinar explored what best practice looks like in social prescribing and how the matrix Standard – the Department for Education‘s quality standard for organisations delivering information, advice and guidance (IAG) – can help services strengthen quality, demonstrate impact and embed continuous improvement.
Social Prescribing and the Need for Quality
Social prescribing helps people access non-clinical support that can improve health and wellbeing by addressing wider social needs. According to Monica Boulton, its importance continues to grow as services respond to increasing demand and rising levels of long-term health conditions.
“The social determinants of health impact 80% of our health outcomes. So the healthcare that we receive actually only caters for 20% of what our health outcomes look like.”
At the heart of social prescribing is the link worker role, which focuses on understanding individuals’ goals, circumstances and motivations before connecting them with appropriate community support.
This person-centred approach closely aligns with the matrix Standard’s focus on delivering high-quality information, advice and guidance tailored to individual needs.
Where the matrix Standard Fits
One of the strongest messages from the webinar was the role the matrix Standard can play in strengthening social prescribing services – providing a recognised framework for quality, consistency and continuous improvement.
Monica highlighted how the Standard supports consistency across a rapidly growing and diverse sector.
“One of the enabling factors of the Standard is to help bring that consistency from that IAG lens, regardless of what social prescribing is being delivered.”
Partnership working was another key area of overlap.
“The importance of partnerships really embedded in the matrix Standard. And that is very much at the heart of what social prescribing is about.”
The Standard also helps organisations assess how effectively they work with referrers, community groups, healthcare providers and other partners to deliver positive outcomes. As Monica explained:
“The matrix standard recognises the reliance and importance of working across those different sectors, but provides that framework to be able to assess and measure how effectively that is being done in relation to information and advice.”
Ways to Wellness: Accreditation in Practice
For Ways to Wellness, pursuing matrix Standard accreditation was about gaining independent validation of the quality of its services.
“We were after an independent quality standard. We were after external validation.”
Sonia explained that the organisation wanted a recognised framework that demonstrated its commitment to delivering high-quality support while driving continuous improvement.
The assessment process proved to be collaborative rather than intimidating.
“The assessor really focused on understanding the organisation rather than anything to sort of catch us out.”
One of the most valuable aspects was hearing directly from service users and partners about the impact of the organisation’s work.
“Nothing really adds authenticity like an actual client saying, ‘this link worker changed my life’.”
The resulting report not only recognised strengths but also highlighted opportunities for improvement, helping the organisation strengthen feedback systems and evidence collection.
Continuous Improvement as Best Practice
A defining feature of the matrix Standard is its focus on continuous improvement rather than one-off compliance.
Sonia reflected on how accreditation reinforced this culture within Ways to Wellness:
“We are pretty good right now, but we are planning to get better.”
Monica saw this as particularly valuable for social prescribing organisations:
“I also just love that continuous improvement approach.”
She also noted that the benefits extend beyond senior leadership teams.
“It’s not just that accreditation for the organisation at the most senior level, but all the way through to the volunteers and even the clients, the people that are beneficiaries, this has a really marked impact on.”
Defining Best Practice
The discussion highlighted that best practice in social prescribing is about more than delivering a service. It requires person-centred support, strong partnerships, high-quality information and advice, evidence of impact and a commitment to continuous improvement.
As social prescribing continues to expand across health, community and voluntary sector settings, the matrix Standard provides a practical framework for organisations to demonstrate quality, improve consistency and ensure that services continue to evolve around the needs of the people they support.
