Skip to main content
BETA A NHS service powered by standards. Feedbackopens in a new window will help us improve.

Social Prescribing Information Standard

Enables social prescribing support provision to be recorded, amended and maintained collaboratively between patients, link workers and health and care professionals.

Documentation

About this standard

Publisher
NHS England
NHS England logo
Reference code
DAPB4066 Amd 108/2021
Publication date
16/01/2023
Status
Active
Show definitions of statuses

Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.

Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.

Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.

Standard type
Information standards
Show definitions of standard types

Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.

Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.

Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.

Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.

Contact point

Using this standard

Applies to
  • Social prescribing services
  • General Practice
  • Acute health services
  • Mental health services
  • Community services
  • Social Care services
  • Other Service Providers MAY conform to this information standard.
  • Referrers to social prescribing services MAY conform to this standard.
Impacts on
Implementation of this information standard impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine necessary changes.
Associated medias

Further guidance is published by the Professional Record Standards Body:

Conformance date
31/03/2025
Effective from
01/03/2023

Topics and care settings

Topic
  • Care records
  • Prescribing
  • Referrals
Care setting
  • Community health
  • Hospital
  • Mental health
  • Social care
Dependencies
Related standards

Review Information

Scope
NHS Services, Adult Social Care
Sponsor

Tim Straughan, Deputy Director of the Personalised Care Group, NHS England

Senior Responsible Officer

David Bramley, Deputy Director, Personalised Care Group, NHS England

Business Lead
Jules Ford, Senior Lead, Personalised Care Group, NHS England\nMartin Orton, Senior Programme Manager, Prpfessional Record Standards Body (PRSB)
Contributor
Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB)
Approval date
25/08/2022
Post Implementation review Date
31/03/2025
Legal authority

Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012

This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012

Collaborating Organisations

No known endorsements.

More information

This is an information standard commissioned by NHS England from the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) with the intent to establish consistency in information capture regarding social prescribing. Social prescribing helps people to stay well for longer, and is supported by the Government’s loneliness strategy, A connected society: A strategy for tackling loneliness (2018). Social prescribing in the community allows local agencies to refer individuals to link workers, who work with the individual, focusing on ‘what matters to me’ and connecting them with local groups and services. The NHS Long Term Plan commits that personalised care will become “business as usual” for the NHS and for 2.5 million people to benefit by 2023/24. ‘Social prescribing and community based support’ is one of the six components which make up this model and NHS England’s Comprehensive Model of Universal Personalised Care details how this will be achieved, with a target of over 900,000 people being referred to social prescribing schemes by 2023/24. The first version of this information standard is to mandate the use of the PRSB Social Prescribing standard (version 1.0) in appropriate care settings, to achieve consistency of information capture relating to social prescribing activities. This will prepare care providers to be able to share relevant information which will be facilitated through a future version of this standard.

Page last updated: 23 October 2024