Community Connectors Social Prescribing Service

1. Community Connectors – Social Prescribing Carla Hawkins – Operations Manager Stephanie Foard – Service Manager

2. Service Overview Available in the following Clinical Commissioning Group areas: • Eastbourne, Hailsham & Seaford • Hastings & Rother • Team of navigators covering 11 GP surgeries and 5 community clinics, offering support and a single point of access to link patients to specialist agencies and organisations for social issues impacting on mood and wellbeing.

3. Our Aims & Objectives • Improve health and wellbeing outcomes for patients • Reduce frequent attendance in primary care (defined as more than 12 visits to GP per annum) and the impact on secondary mental health support   • Reduce the demand on Primary Care Services and mental health services • Increase awareness of the relationship between physical long term conditions and mental health

4. Referrals • The service will accept referrals for adults, 16+, from GPs and both medical and non-medical staff within GP surgeries, self-referrals directly from individuals, and referrals from statutory and third sector providers of mental health related services. • All referral forms on GP DXS system for ease • Referrals can be emailed directly social.prescribing@nhs.net • Self-referral slips can be completed at participating surgeries by patients and left with reception • Walk-in clinics and booked appointment options • Follow up appointments for patients can be made at the clinic or at a community clinic

5. Hear our stories… “I want to tell people that there is help out there. Sometimes it’s hard to find and hard to do it yourself. I would recommend this service because, for me, it’s helped. It feels like someone cares.” “It helped to know that some of the advisors there had faced issues of their own; I felt like there would be a better degree of understanding and empathy because of that.”

6. Service Offer We currently operate from the following GP surgeries/Health Centres across both Hastings & Rother CCG and Eastbourne, Seaford & Hailsham CCG: Station Plaza, Warrior Square, Sidley, Rye, Battle, Seddlescombe and Westfield, Lighthouse, Seaside, Seaford medical practice We offer community clinics too: Bexhill Wellbeing Centre (1st and 2nd Wednesday of month), Tile Kiln Community Centre (3rd Wednesday of month), Fellowship of St Nicholas (last Wednesday of month), Eastbourne @ The Labyrinth every Wednesday afternoon, Autism Sx every Thursday morning (booked through Roebuck Centre), East Sussex Recovery Alliance (Eastbourne and Hastings every Friday)

7. Service Offer cont…. Clinics are offered across the week, between the hours of 9am to 5pm, with flexibility to work outside of these times to meet individual need, and will offer: An effective assessment and triage procedure, resulting in appropriate and timely interventions to meet individual needs Use of a coaching/behaviour change model of support Support into social, cultural, spiritual, health, educational, voluntary and employment opportunities in the community Support with social and economic issues impacting on mental wellbeing, including debt and housing issues, social isolation, poor physical health due to a long term condition, or employment support Links to other community support when required Health promotion activities Follow ups to GP physical health checks

8. Volunteers Community Connectors is recruiting a Volunteer Co-Ordinator, who will recruit, train and supervise a bank of volunteers who can: • Accompany patients to community appointments • Offer 1:1 meetings with patients at community clinics • Accompany and support to Recovery College courses and community activities