A PILOT project offering social advice and information at GP surgeries has recently been launched in West Devon — which if successful could be extended across the county.

Local leading advice charities and Citizen’s Advice Torridge, North Mid and West Devon have announced the new one-year pilot project in West Devon which will be offering social support to patients.

Reports from areas of the UK suggest that it is not uncommon for around a quarter of GP patient appointments to be due to social rather than medical causes. Poverty, money, relationships, domestic violence and social isolation issues are just a few of the underlying factors that can lead to increased stress and anxiety in patients.

This project aims to help tackle underlying factors affecting patient wellbeing. By intervening at this early stage, it is hoped the service will help reduce patients from reaching a more critical stage of crisis, therefore reducing the demand on GP and NHS services.

West Devon Borough Council has funded the project, which means that the three participating surgeries in Chagford, Lifton and Yelverton can now offer patients an appointment with an advice specialist in the surgery.

Citizen’s Advice Torridge, North Mid and West Devon’s Vicki?Rowe said: ‘Evidence from similar pilots hosted by Citizens Advice Liverpool and Citizens Advice Guildford have demonstrated that “prescribing advice” to patients with non-medical health issues can help improve the health and wellbeing of patients who are exhibiting signs of stress, anxiety or early stages of depression.

‘The key to successful outcomes for these clients is for access to the most appropriate sources of help as quickly as possible. Evidence from pilots in Liverpool and Guildford shows that locating Citizen’s Advice services within GP practices significantly increases the likelihood of clients accessing advice. For many the visit to the GP has been made because doctors are trusted and the location is familiar to the patient.’

West Devon Borough Council’s lead member for health and wellbeing Cllr Lois Samuel said: ‘In this fantastic project, medical and non-medical staff can arrange a direct appointment with a specialist Citizen’s Advice advisor which will be held at the surgery.

‘This should really help reduce doctor appointments and give patients key support and information at an early stage, before problems impact their health.’

During the advice session, the advisor will use Citizen’s Advice’s diagnostic tools to help the client explore, identify and start to resolve problems that are causing stress and anxiety.

Experienced advisors will integrate advice with recommendations for social activities to ensure the wider needs of patients are met. If this project proves to be a success, then there are plans to extend it across Devon.

For more details about the project contact [email protected]