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A GP doling out football tickets? It may sound daft, but ‘social prescribing’ could be a giant leap for the NHS | Devi Sridhar | The Guardian

theguardian.com · 955 words · saved by 1 readers

Big pharma pushes drugs, but community resources such as exercise, nature, music, and, yes, watching a game may better address root causes A new NHS pilot in Gloucestershire gives 12 GP practices the ability to prescribe Forest Green Rovers football tickets to patients with mild to moderate depression. It’s part of a movement towards replacing a purely medical model – think: what antidepressants should we prescribe? – to a social and community model of care. Initiatives like this are easy to mock for being insufficient to address the huge strains faced by the NHS. And, for better or worse, may lead to an increase in people seeking care for depression in the hope of free football tickets. But this sort of thing has been supported by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, as part of his efforts to change the NHS from a sickness treatment system to a preventive health service. The rationale is that GPs are overwhelmed, with patients showing up with issues such as back and neck pain, depress

GP turned Labour MP Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) and Dale Vince, left, owner of Forest Green Rovers, hope prescribing football tickets can help tackle depression. Photograph: Karl Mackie/PA View image in fullscreen GP turned Labour MP Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) and Dale Vince, left, owner of Forest Green Rovers, hope prescribing football tickets can help tackle depression. Photograph: Karl Mackie/PA Opinion NHS This article is more than 11 months old A GP doling out football tickets? It may sound daft, but ‘social prescribing’ could be a giant leap for the NHS This article is more than 11 months old D

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