Defining best practice in social prescribing with the matrix Standard

Ways to Wellness is proud to have achieved matrix Standard accreditation, an international standard for information, advice and guidance (IAG) services. 

Our Head of Digital Systems, Sonia Townend, was invited to talk about our experience achieving the accreditation at the webinar ‘Defining best practice in social prescribing’.  She reflects on how the matrix Standard can help social prescribing providers demonstrate their impact.

Why social prescribing?

“Social prescribing has expanded rapidly across the UK over the past decade. According to the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), there are more than 3,300 link workers nationally; 1.3 million people were referred to social prescribing services by their GP in 2023 alone; and between 2019 and 2023, social prescribing featured in 9.4 million GP consultations. 

“While social prescribing has grown over the years, there are fears in the sector that tightening budgets may push holistic healthcare down the priority list for the NHS and Government.  

“Monica Boulton, Social Prescribing Expert and Strategic Lead for Healthcare Integration & Neighbourhood Health at NASP, explained that as social prescribing grows and evolves across the UK, organisations are increasingly looking for a clear, evidence-based framework to show the impact of their work in reducing health inequalities and improving people’s health and wellbeing.

Quality, consistency and continuous improvement

“The matrix Standard has been the Department for Education's quality mark for information, advice and guidance for 24 years, issuing 1,500 accreditations across further education, higher education, employability, adult learning and other learning settings: helping organisations build quality, consistency and continuous improvement into their services. 

“This tried-and-tested quality assurance mark is moving into the health and wellbeing space. Roger Chapman, Head of Service at matrix Standard, believes it can benefit social prescribing providers by offering recognition and assurance, helping providers demonstrate the difference their IAG makes by tracking outcomes such as improved wellbeing, reduced isolation, increased community engagement, and reduced demand on clinical services. Measuring these outcomes not only helps individual organisations but creates more evidence for social prescribing on a national scale.

Ways to Wellness — a case study

“As a test-and-learn organisation, we were looking for an independent, external validation of our work beyond anecdotal client and partner praise. This helps us create evidence for our funders and partners and evaluate our projects so we can show the potential impact at scale. 

"Information, advice and guidance are crucial to everything we do, and it's at the centre of successful provision: whether that's communicating information to clients, NHS staff, funders or our Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners. 

"Clients come to us from a range of backgrounds, and the way we present ourselves must be clear and responsive to individual needs. 

"The matrix Standard assessment allowed us to audit our IAG, from our website to the way we speak with clients about what we offer. The process gave us a deeper insight into our processes, and we learned a lot from the Standard's 'plan–do–review' structure.

Embedding social prescribing in healthcare

“With a renewed push for preventive healthcare in the 10-year health plan for England, defining best practice can only strengthen social prescribing provision; giving organisations the tools to assure quality and demonstrate impact. 

“Our work with the matrix Standard sits alongside Ways to Wellness's recent training to help social prescribers ‘Tell the story of their social prescribing impact using data.’ Run in collaboration with Newcastle University, the project helps social prescribers feel more confident using data to demonstrate their impact. 

“Achieving matrix Standard accreditation is only the beginning; we are building a 12-month plan to improve how we collect feedback and report on the work we do. By using the matrix Standard approach of continuous improvement, we can create an externally validated, evidence-led framework for partners, funders and the healthcare sector.  

“We're committed to continuing this work with the matrix Standard, and to sharing what we learn along the way with the wider social prescribing sector.”

If you'd like to take part in a future session on telling the story of your social prescribing impact using data, join us on: 

19 August — People First Conference Centre, Carlisle 

21 August — The Durham Centre, Durham 

We'll also be releasing details of a Middlesbrough session and online dates soon — book your place before they fill up.