My Lords, I rise briefly to support this suite of amendments put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Howarth. I know how passionate he feels about this issue and how much work he has done in this area over many years. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, has just taken the words right out of my mouth; I was going to start by saying that social prescribing is a phenomenon whose time has come. I think that is right. People understand that the approach of social prescribing is really opening up opportunities for people to improve health and well-being through non-clinical avenues. That is what this set of amendments is all about.
This is particularly relevant for people with long-term conditions and complex needs, particularly those with mental health conditions, suffering from dementia or experiencing loneliness. The one point I want to make, which I do not think has been talked about yet, goes right back to our opening debate today about how the ambitions of this Bill will be achieved only if there is true integration across health and social care. My big plea is: please do not forget social care when we are looking at this issue. When I say social care, I am thinking both about people who have domiciliary care in their own homes and people in care settings.
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I will briefly use a quick example. My mother has been in a residential care home for a number of years with a range of complex issues and conditions. I have seen first-hand the difference that it makes when there are activities. Sometimes there are arts activities, sometimes it is music or a musical quiz. The difference to my mother’s well-being and sense of mental health is enormous—as, indeed, is her sense of agency and empowerment, because she used to be an artist. Once that was understood, it was even possible to organise an event where she was sharing her knowledge and her expertise with other residents. I know that did a massive amount to boost her self-esteem. Very sadly, however, during the pandemic and lockdown, there were so many times when residents were confined to their rooms and unable to go into communal areas, or when the person who normally delivered these activities was not available, so these events did not happen. It was only a matter of weeks before I saw my mother’s well-being really go down very dramatically indeed. I am therefore massively in favour of this group of amendments, designed to support vulnerable people who are lonely, isolated or experiencing poor mental health, or have learning disabilities.
I will finish on a point that we talked about earlier today, the problems of funding social care. The funding cuts that local authorities have received over the past 10 years are such that it can be really difficult for them to find the money for this sort of activity in social care. I really hope that the powers that these amendments envisage ICBs having would go across the whole range of health and social care and will not just be limited to people in healthcare settings.