‘WHAT does health mean to you?’ was the question posed to Holsworthy Town Council during its meeting on Wednesday, December 4, by Claire Scadeg from the Ruby Country Medical Group’s ‘Holsworthy Social Prescribing Team’.

Cllr John Allen said ‘assistance’, Cllr Helen Parker said ‘well being’ while Cllr Jon Hutchings summed it up as ‘everything, health is everything to us’.

Claire thanked the councillors for their thoughts. She said those were all things the Holsworthy Social Prescribing Team strive for, adding: “It is interesting to hear what it is about for everyone. We often hear that health is security and social prescribing is about looking at the individual and how we can achieve that.”

Providing an insight into her role with the team, Claire said: “Social prescribing came about in the early noughties. It has grown since then and our social prescribers come from many different health backgrounds.

“My role is as a ‘sign-poster’. If you imagine a person with a leg ulcer — who is also in financial difficulty and has an alcohol problem, for example — goes to see their GP, the GP will probably only be interested in the leg ulcer not the other difficulties, but they can refer them to us or make an appointment at one of our clinics. We would then talk to the person and find out what it is all about.”

Claire said once a GP has referred a patient, a social prescriber will contact the person and identify their needs. The social prescriber can then direct a person to the help they require thanks to the team’s database of local groups and organisations such as mother and baby groups, arts/activity groups to help tackle isolation, or money advice services for those with debt issues.

In this way social prescribers are able to help people with a range of issues including; social isolation, befriending services, bereavement, accessing legal advice, emotional wellbeing, mental health support, being a carer, respite services, cancer care services, long term health support, poor health linked to housing, accessing the workplace, volunteering, debt management, healthy lifestyle, weight management, joining groups and digital access to services.

Claire said she had most recently referred someone to the local Link Centre in Holsworthy where they were accessing support.

She added: “I will give the person a ring in a few weeks time to see how they are doing and if they need more help to access other services.”

Claire covers the Hatherleigh, Holsworthy and Black Torrington areas while her colleague Dawn Bauling covers Bradworthy, Neetside and Stratton — working alongside the local surgeries.

Claire said: “There is an overlap with our areas which means we can get together and share what resources we have and identify what services are out there.”

Claire said the team were keen to create a strong link with the town council in order to further expand their database of local support services.

She welcomed questions from the councillors.

Town clerk Vannessa Saunders got the discussion started by asking Claire a question: “How much do you know about how the town council works?”

Claire said she was once a parish councillor herself but said she imagined things were done a little differently at a town level, adding that she was ‘always happy to learn more’.

Mrs Saunders said she would be happy to set up a meeting after Christmas in the council offices so Claire could find out more about what the council do and how they could help.

She added: “We also have our two district councillors here, David Jones and Jon Hutchings. It might be worth speaking to them as well.”

Claire thanked the councillors, adding that if anyone or someone they know would like to access support they can phone the local surgery in Holsworthy and an appointment can be arranged.

For more information about the local social prescribing team visit www.strattondocs.co.uk