MANY people might be surprised to visit their doctor and come away with a prescription for ‘Nordic walking’ or ‘gardening’.

But this is precisely what is happening at a surgery in Ellesmere Port which is trialling a new system called 'social prescribing' that favours social and practical help over medicines.

Westminster GP Surgery has been undertaking a year-long pilot alongside Cheshire West and Chester Council’s housing management provider ForHousing called ‘Passport to Wellbeing’.

And they have hailed it a success saying there have been “significant health and wellbeing improvements”.

So far 33 people have benefited from the scheme with plans to roll the scheme out further.

It saw an investment in a digital technology platform which enables clinicians to prescribe local activities delivered in the community and monitor the effects.

The prescriptions range from referring residents to voluntary sector projects to increase confidence and self-esteem to healthy eating sessions, Nordic walking, gardening and employment training.

Dr Rajesh Rajan, clinical director at the surgery on Church Parade, said the scheme was helping him respond to common challenges such as depression and isolation.

He said: “Being able to put people in contact with these other services gives me an extra choice and another route for the patients.”

Jenny Chapman, Group Director of Innovation and Excellence at ForViva, added: “We have been amazed at the health and wellbeing improvements people are experiencing already.

“ForHousing is well placed to work with GPs to provide a bridge to local activities which sometimes can have a more profound effect on health than any medicine can. What is core is keeping the person at the centre and enabling them to determine the most relevant course of action that meets their needs, working in partnership.

“So far this pilot has been very promising and we look forward to evaluating the results later in the year.”

Social prescribing has been recognised by NHS England as key to reducing GPs’ workloads and improving health and wellbeing nationally.

It has recently announced investment in 1,000 ‘link workers’ across the country to perform a similar function to ForHousing’s pilot.

ForHousing has partnered with ‘tech for good’ company, Elemental Software, using its platform to help customers discover healthy lifestyle activities, education opportunities and skills.

ForHousing customers in Westminster can access their passport by emailing wellbeing.team@forhousing.co.uk