Loneliness

Action plan

• It can be hard for people who are lonely to know where to turn for support. That’s why we want every GP surgery to be able to access a “social prescriber”, so that people who are lonely or are at risk of becoming lonely are supported to make the right connections.
• To help make the right connections we want to see local authorities, the voluntary sector, and GPs working together to ensure that there are directories of voluntary sector projects and schemes which highlight opportunities that could benefit those who are suffering from loneliness. Where provision of such schemes is limited, efforts should be made to fill these gaps.
• We need to make sure lonely people don't get lost in the cracks of our services, so we need the NHS, local authorities and others to develop better information sharing protocols to ensure that concerns are followed up, and to make connections with services that can help lonely and potentially lonely people.
• We will engage our members in tackling loneliness by providing educational and professional development resources for GPs, meaning that people at risk of becoming lonely are identified earlier, and better supported before they become chronically lonely.
• As this is about so much more than medicine, GPs and practice teams can’t beat loneliness on their own. We need a national public health campaign to raise awareness of this issue, and encourage everyone to take action to tackle loneliness by checking on their neighbours and getting involved in their local community.

NI action plan

• GPs need time to care. 10-minute appointments are unfit for purpose, but the extreme pressure on general practice means it can be impossible for GPs to spend longer with patients, getting to know what really matters to them. Northern Ireland should address workload pressures and make longer appointments an option.
• It can be hard for people who are lonely to know where to turn for support. That’s why we want to see a dedicated professional for every GP surgery, a “social prescriber” or community navigator so that people who are lonely or are at risk are supported to make the right connections.
• We want to see Councils establish a regularly updated database of community and voluntary sector projects and schemes in their area. This will support patients, community navigators and carers to ensure that people are matched to the best schemes for their needs.
• We need to make sure lonely people don't get left behind, so we need to develop links for working between GPs and their teams and the voluntary sector.
• We will engage our members in tackling loneliness by providing educational and professional development resources for GPs, meaning that people at risk of becoming lonely are identified earlier.
• As tackling loneliness is about so much more than medicine; GPs can’t beat it on their own. We need a national public health campaign to raise awareness of this issue, and encourage everyone to take action to tackle loneliness by checking on their neighbours and getting involved in their local community.

Scotland's action plan

• GPs need time to care and to deliver person-centred medicine. We’re calling for an end to 10-minute appointments, so that GPs can spend a longer, more appropriate time with patients and get to know what really matters to them.
• We want to see further high-quality, long-term analysis undertaken of the Community Links Worker programme, to build on that provided by NHS Health Scotland. Community Links Workers are based in GP practices situated in areas with high levels of deprivation and provide an important link between the GP practice and services within the local community. Social isolation was the second most prevalent issue encountered in Links work, in the pilot managed by the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE). Only the generic term ‘mental health’ ranked higher. The rollout of 250 Links Workers across Scotland should be of practice embedded social practitioners with a generalist approach, rather than sole issue workers such as those limited to, for example, welfare rights. Evidence suggests that this programme is effective in combatting social isolation through social prescribing (community-based alternatives to medication to improve wellbeing) and building relationships of trust, and that it has marked and measurable positive impact on patients’ health and wellbeing. If this evidence continues to prove such efficacy following the currently planned expansion of Link Worker positions, we want to see the programme rolled out to all GP practices across Scotland.
• To help make the right connections we want to see a national wiki-style database of voluntary sector projects and schemes to tackle loneliness, to ensure people are matched to the best schemes for their needs.
• This database needs to be centrally managed, regularly updated and quality assured to ensure clinicians’ confidence in the system.
• We need to make sure lonely people don't fall through the community’s cracks, so we need to develop ways that GPs and their teams, with colleagues in the voluntary sector, can communicate easily and learn from each other.
• We want to see sustainable and reliable funding of appropriate third sector organisations within the community.
• These services are vital to addressing the issues of social isolation and loneliness in communities, however all too often they are funded on a short-term basis and have uncertain futures.
• We need to ensure that GPs have the time within their working week to develop and foster relationships with local organisations, for the benefit of their patients. We are calling for increased levels of protected time for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) within GPs’ working weeks to help GPs carry out this important work.
• We will engage our members in tackling loneliness by providing educational and professional development resources for their practice teams that are relevant to their local area, meaning that people at risk of becoming lonely are identified earlier and are better supported before they become chronically lonely.
• As this is about so much more than medicine, GPs can’t beat loneliness on their own. We need a national public health campaign to raise awareness of the issue and to encourage everyone to take action to tackle loneliness by checking on their neighbours and getting involved in their local community.

Tackling loneliness is about more than medicine and this is why we are launching our action plan to help tackle the problem. The well-being agenda in Wales has been developed through the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. We need to ensure GPs and their teams can provide the best possible care to lonely patients.

Action plan

• GPs need time to care. 10-minute appointments are unfit for purpose, but the extreme pressure on general practice means it can be impossible for GPs to spend longer with patients, getting to know what really matters to them. Wales should address workload pressures and make longer appointments an option.
• It can be hard for people who are lonely to know where to turn for support. That’s why we want to see a dedicated professional for every GP surgery, a ‘social prescriber’ so that people who are lonely or are at risk are supported to make the right connections. General practice can also be supported through ‘Community Connectors’ and we would encourage further links to be developed here.
• We encourage the further development of ‘Dewis Cymru’, a potentially valuable resource providing information and advice about loneliness and wider areas of well-being. It offers information on local projects and schemes and can be a useful tool for GPs. Most Councils provide this information and we encourage all to do so and ensure that it is regularly updated.
• We need to make sure lonely people don't get lost in the cracks, so we need to develop better links for working between GPs and their teams and the voluntary sector.
• We will engage our members in tackling loneliness by providing educational and professional development resources for GPs, meaning that people at risk of becoming lonely are identified earlier, and better supported before they become chronically lonely. We also acknowledge the importance of the wider practice team being informed on issues around loneliness.
• As this is about so much more than medicine, GPs can’t beat loneliness on their own. We welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment to an awareness raising campaign, as part of an upcoming cross-government strategy on loneliness and isolation. We encourage everyone to take action to tackle loneliness by checking on their neighbours and getting involved in their local community.