We are delighted to announce that Sir Sam Everington (MBBS, MRCGP, Barrister, OBE) has become a Patron of the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP).
Sam has been a GP in Tower Hamlets since 1989 in the Bromley by Bow Partnership. The Bromley by Bow Centre has over 100 projects under its roof supporting the wider determinants of health. Its pioneering social prescribing programme has inspired many other projects across the country and across the world.
We are delighted that Sam has agreed to become our Patron at this critical time for the future of our health system. His incredible work over several decades has made a huge difference to patients and the wider community, and has shown what’s possible when you focus on the social factors affecting people’s health.
Along with other pioneering medical professionals, Sam has helped to ensure that social prescribing has become part of national health policy. The Government has stressed the need to shift from treatment to prevention and to move more care from hospitals to communities - and social prescribing should play a crucial role in this. We are thrilled to be working with Sam as the NHS develops its plans for the future.
I am very pleased to become Patron of the National Academy for Social Prescribing. There are many things that affect our health and wellbeing that can’t be fixed by traditional medicine. Social prescribing is a crucial way of addressing this. Understanding what matters to people, and connecting them to people, their community and nature, can have a profound impact on improving their health and wellbeing. NASP is now an international leader in social prescribing and research.
As Patron, Sam will act as a figurehead for NASP and support its programmes and campaigns.
Sam is a member of BMA and RCGP Council and Vice President of the BMA. In 1999, he received an OBE for services to inner city primary care; in 2006, The International Award of Excellence in Health Care; and in 2015 a Knighthood for services to primary care. In 2022, he received the Albert Medal from the RSA. He is also Vice-President of the Queen's Nursing Institute.
His appointment follows the recent announcement of Professor Kamila Hawthorne as NASP’s new Chair of Trustees.
