Evaluating social needs screening: patient and staff experiences v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Views and experiences of staff and patients on social needs screening in primary care in North-East London
IRAS ID
354786
Contact name
John Ford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
We know that social factors like your neighbourhood, your housing, how much money you have and your social networks strongly affect peoples’ health and wellbeing. In the UK, people who are poorer have more chronic conditions at a younger age and live around 10 years less than wealthier people. To improve the health of the most disadvantaged, we need to pay attention to these social factors.
When people seek care through general practice this is an opportunity to get support for these factors. Social needs screening involves healthcare workers asking people questions about financial, housing and other social problems. This helps them to understand a person’s situation better, provide care that is specific to them and connect people with the right help. In North America, social needs screening has been shown to increase the number of people getting support, reduce social problems, and improve health.
North-East London Integrated Care Board (NEL ICB) has delivered the Data Accreditation Improvement and Incentive Scheme (DAiiS); a pilot social needs screening programme in primary care. Between March 2023-2025 NEL ICB was paying GP surgeries to ask patients these questions, find out their needs, and help them get the right support. This funding has now finished.
This study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of this social needs screening programme. We will collect information for the study by talking to patients and staff involved in the programme to understand more about their experiences and views. The research team will use interviews and group discussions to understand if the programme worked, why and for whom. By understanding this we can provide guidance on if social needs screening should be introduced in more GP practices and permanently, and how to do this in a way that is most acceptable to staff and patients.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/PR/0663
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jun 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion