How can social prescribing help shorten waiting times for doctors?

Long waiting times to see a doctor are currently one of the most noticeable problems in the healthcare system. Public debate usually leads to the same conclusion: we need more doctors, more money and more services. Meanwhile, experiences from other countries show that part of the solution may lie elsewhere in better matching support to the real needs of patients.

One approach that has gained importance in recent years is social prescribing.

What Is Social Prescribing?

When the Problem Isn’t Medical

Family doctors have long pointed out that a significant number of visits do not directly result from illness. In England, 1 in 5 GP appointments is made for non-medical reasons (200,000 such visits each day)¹.

Patients come with symptoms whose true source may be loneliness, chronic stress, lack of activity, or life difficulties.

In such situations, medicine has limited tools. A doctor can listen and sometimes offer symptomatic treatment, but often cannot address the root of the problem. The patient leaves without any real change and eventually returns. Sometimes repeatedly.

This is where the system becomes inefficient. 

What Does the Liverpool Example Teach Us?

A good example is the Princes Park Health Centre in Liverpool², serving over 7,000 patients. Doctors there noticed a pattern: more and more visits were triggered by social issues such as loneliness, isolation or low mood. Patients kept returning because their needs remained unmet and doctors lacked non-medical tools to help.

In response, the clinic introduced the role of a link worker, who took over these cases. They contacted patients, assessed their situation and referred them to specific support from walking groups to hobby activities and advisory services.

Effects appeared quickly. Patients who previously visited regularly began participating in social activities and returned to the GP less frequently. One person struggling with anxiety and stress joined photography and music sessions. Another regained confidence through a walking group and stopped needing frequent appointments.

This translated into fewer repetitive consultations and more time for patients requiring genuine medical care. 

How Does Social Prescribing Shorten Queues?

The mechanism is simple yet systemically effective:

1. It reduces repeat visits caused by unresolved social problems. A patient who receives proper support is less likely to return with the same issue.
2. It shows strong impact for high use patients those who most frequently use healthcare services.
3. It serves as a bridge between healthcare and social support systems. Instead of bouncing between appointments, patients receive a real support pathway outside the doctors office.

This is not theoretical. UK data shows that the number of GP visits among people using this model drops by around 28% on average³. Local programmes show similar results e.g., a pilot in Rotherham saw 28% fewer in person visits and 14% fewer phone consultations in a year⁴.

Co to oznacza dla Polski? 

Poland is not starting from scratch. Some emerging initiatives already align with this logic such as the Ministry of Health’s pilot prescription for movement, which refers patients to physical activity instead of only pharmacotherapy. This is an important step towards viewing health more broadly than through the lens of treatment alone.

However, the prescription for movement focuses on one area: physical activity while social prescribing covers a much broader range: social relationships, mental health, cultural activities, and community engagement.

At the same time, many NGOs, foundations and local initiatives already support health and wellbeing through support groups, exercise classes, art workshops, cultural events and community activities. The problem is that healthcare, culture and social support sectors still operate parallel to each other instead of working together.

Full implementation of social prescribing would require creating real links between them.

In practice, this means that already during first contact, it would be possible to identify whether a patient’s problem requires medical intervention or social support and direct them accordingly. A link worker could play a key role here, taking over the patient and helping them access appropriate support. This relieves doctors from issues they cannot solve medically and helps the entire system operate more cohesively and efficiently.

Where Does This Approach Make the Most Sense?

Social prescribing is especially effective for:

• older or lonely people
• patients with chronic stress or low mood
• individuals with chronic illnesses requiring lifestyle change
• people who frequently use primary care services     

These are the groups most commonly appearing in queues not always because they need medical treatment, but because they have nowhere else to receive help.

Conclusions 

If we want to shorten waiting times for doctors, we cannot limit ourselves to increasing the number of services. Understanding what kind of problem the patient actually brings is just as important.

Social prescribing shows that part of the answer to an overloaded healthcare system lies outside medicine in community, relationships and everyday life.