Introduction This section provides an assessment of the indicators used by the pilot Social Prescribing projects and suggested future areas for development. Assessment While the Social Prescribing business case (June 2015) outlines the initial locality specific approaches for each project, it was not possible to provide a detailed intervention logic or rationale for each model as in most cases they were not yet commissioned. In addition the terms of reference for this evaluation (section 2.5) were not covered in the locality contracts/ SLAs as they had not been agreed when the contracts were issued. The following table summarises how the project targets link to the outcomes being measured by the evaluation. Table 5:1: Locality Models Objectives and Targets Locality KPIs that link to the evaluation primary outcomes and secondary outcomes. Direct Measurement of: Primary care use by service users Secondary care use Social care use Impact on mental wellbeing, social isolation and general health Patient experience of Social Prescribing Basildon and Brentwood ✓ ✓ ✓ Castle Point and Rochford ✓ ✓ ✓ North East Essex- Tendring ✓ ✓ ✓ North East Essex - Colchester ✓ ✓ Mid Essex ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Table 6:1: Funding Provided to Social Prescribing Project by Locality – (2015/16 – 2016/17 – as at 31 March 2017) Basildon and Brentwood Castle Point and Rochford Mid Essex NE Essex – Colchester NE Essex – Tendring West Essex Southend Total Funding £155,040 £90,417 £286,485 £159,000 £200,000 £230,000 £70,000 £1,190,942 Number of staff 2 FT SP Navigator Admin support (0.5) 1 PT project manager (0.4) 3 PT staff 1 FT project lead 0.8 Level 2 Advisors (PROVIDE) 2.5 FT staff Not available 1 FT PIC 1 FT SP Coordinator 11 FT staff Number of Volunteers 8 volunteers 11 volunteers 424 trained SPCs (153 active) one volunteer supporting project administration 13 active volunteers 11 inactive volunteers 1 admin volunteer 6 volunteers in a PIP role (3 active) 2017 5 volunteers 195 (active, including SPCs) 285 (inactive, including SPCs) Number of Referrals 318 387 1,491 2,683 Not available 510 72 5,461 Source: Information provided by Basildon and Brentwood CVS; Castle Point Association Voluntary Services; Chelmsford CVS; Colchester CVS; ECC, Age UK Essex, Southend Association Voluntary Services (June 2017)
Table 6.1 shows that in total the Social Prescribing projects have been provided with total funding of £1,190,942, mainly from the TCA and ECC Funding. Funding in some areas is also provided by other sources, for example the Tendring Mental Health Hub had a contract from the NECCG, an OPCC grant and funds from Tendring District Council. Southend had funds from Southend Public Health. Most projects are being run by only 1-2 people FT/PT people. Outputs The outputs that were recorded by each of the projects relate to the number of referrals in and onward referrals to other support organisations. The following table details the target and actual number of referrals to each Social Prescribing project. Table 6:2: Referrals to the Social Prescribing by locality (at 31 March 2017) Basildon and Brentwood Castle Point and Rochford Mid Essex NE Essex – My Social Prescription West Essex Southend Total (excluding West Essex) Total (including West Essex) Target number of service users (referrals in) 875 1,127 (pro rata) 315 (pro rata) 999 No Target Set 75 3,391 3,391 Actual number of referrals 318 387 1,491 2,683 510 72 4,951 5,461 Variance -557 -740 1,176 1,684 N/A -3 1,560 N/A Table 6.2 shows that overall 4,951 referrals in were made across five Social Prescribing projects (Basildon and Brentwood; Castle Point and Rochford; Mid Essex; North East Essex My Social Prescription; and Southend). This exceeds their combined target of 3,391, however while some projects exceeded their referral target (Mid Essex and My Social Prescription) other projects did not meet their target (Basildon and Brentwood and Ways to Wellness). No referral target was set for West Essex within the CCG contract however it received 510 referrals in total.
Secondary Care Outcomes Table 6.6 provides an overview of respondent’s reported use of secondary care services over a 3 month period. Table 6:6: Change in use of secondary care services (over a 3 month period; n=136) Basildon and Brentwood Castle Point and Rochford Mid Essex Colchester West Essex Total N % N % N % N % N % N % Attendance at A+E 6 9% 3 14% 0 0% 6 32% 2 10% 17 13% Outpatient appointments attended 23 33% 7 33% 2 33% 1 5% 9 43% 42 31% Admittance to hospital – planned procedure 4 6% 3 14% 0 0% 4 21% 1 5% 12 9% Admittance to hospital – emergency 3 4% 2 10% 0 0% 2 11% 2 10% 9 7% Source: RSM PACEC Survey of Social Prescribing Service Users (2017) For secondary care services it shows: Attendance at A+E – 13% (n=17) reported a reduction in attendance at A+E and overall reported attendance at A+E decreased by 10 attendances Outpatient appointments attended – 31% (n=42) had reported a reduction in the number of outpatient appointments attended and overall the reported number of outpatient appointments reduced by 54 appointments Admittance to hospital (planned procedure) - 9% (n=12) reported reduced admissions to hospital for a planned procedure and overall the number of reported admissions reduced by 2 admissions Admittance to hospital (emergency) – 7% (n=9) reported reduced admissions to hospital for an emergency procedure and overall the number of reported admissions reduced by 15 admissions Due to the small number of respondents the findings above are not representative or statistically significant. The value of the outcome changes above are recorded in section 8.
/ Introduction This section summarises the financial performance of the Project against its budget, the value for money achieved and assessment of cost avoidance. Project Budget / Spend Table 8.1 outlines the overall expenditure against the budget for the period 2015/16 – 2016/17. Table 8:1: Expenditure against Pro Rata Funding (2015/16 – 2016/17) Locality Funding (£) Expenditure Variance Basildon and Brentwood £155,040 £112,575 -£42,465 Castle Point and Rochford £90,417 £73,130.70 -£17,286 Mid Essex £286,485 (includes ECC commissioning funds for Provide to supply Level 2 conversations) £217,593 (includes ECC commissioning funds for Provide to supply Level 2 conversations) -£68,892 NE Essex – Colchester £159,000 £159,000 £0 NE Essex – Tendring £200,000 £199,000 £1,000 West Essex £230,000 £199,776 -£30,224 Southend £70,000 £54,000 -£16,000 Total £1,190,942 £1,015,075 -£175,867 Source: Funding: Social Prescription Cash flow v0 6; provided by ECC to PACEC July 2016/ information provided by Age UK Essex and ECC. Spend: Information provided by delivery organisations (May / June 2017) Table 8.1 shows that at 31 March 2016 there has been an overall underspend of £175,867; this is due to a variety of reasons at project level including: Basildon and Brentwood – underspend due to delays in mobilisation/ project start which resulted in recruitment delays. In addition, savings were able to be made in categories such as volunteer expenses as while initially it was expected a team of up to 30 volunteers would be recruited to support patients, this was overestimated and not required to deliver the project, resulting in less e.g. training expenses. The project also