Alyson McGregor MBE is a founding member of the National Social Prescribing Network Steering Group. Her contributions have helped shape the national conversation around social prescribing and implementation into NHS Policy. I first met Alyson when I joined the steering group and have been inspired ever since by her dedication to citizen empowerment and collaborative approaches to transformation of health and wellbeing. It's always a joy to work with Alyson, and knowing she will consistently champion inclusivity and relational approaches is a check and challenge that's welcomed.
Alyson is a visionary leader in health and social care, best known as the founder and National Director of Altogether Better, an NHS national network organisation that pioneers Collaborative Practice to transform the relationship between citizens and services.
With over 30 years of experience across the public, private, and voluntary sectors, Alyson has dedicated her career to improving the health of communities and the sustainability of services by enabling systems and communities to be equal partners in delivering better outcomes. Her work spans more than twelve years at NHS board level, including roles with Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trust, and she currently serves as a Non-Executive Director at Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Under her leadership, Altogether Better has worked with over 300 GP practices and mobilised more than 30,000 volunteer health champions across the UK. These champions use their lived experience and personal assets to support others in their communities—whether through walking groups, cooking classes, or chronic condition support networks. The model has been recognised for its evidence-based approachand its ability to gently reshape systems by co-evolving services with the populations they serve.
Alyson's commitment to creating a new model of care in general practice with citizens at the centre has earned her national recognition. She was named one of the top 50 inspirational women leaders in the NHS by the Health Service Journal in 2013 and awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to Collaborative Practice and Service Development. Her work is grounded in the belief that sustainable solutions to NHS challenges lie in deepening relationships with communities and doing things differently.
Beyond the Referral: Why Social Prescribing has the potential to be at the heart of the new Neighbourhood Health Service
The new 10-Year Health Plan, 'Fit for the Future', is more than just another NHS reform. It is a fundamental rewiring of our health system's DNA. It signals a seismic shift from a system that treats sickness to one that actively creates health. And at the epicentre of this transformation is a role that has, until now, for the most part, been operating at the edges: the Social Prescribing Link Worker. Beyond the Referral: Why Social Prescribing has the potential to be at the heart of the new Neighbourhood Health Service.
For too long, social prescribing has been viewed as a helpful but peripheral service—a way to manage GP workload. This plan changes everything. With its radical focus on population health, outcome-based payments, and deep community integration, the plan doesn't just validate the role of the Link Worker; it places it at the very heart of the new Neighbourhood Health Team.
But to meet this moment, we need a bigger vision for social prescribing. We must move beyond the transactional model of a simple referral and embrace a move to a new model of care that is dynamic, collaborative, and puts patients, citizens, and communities at the centre.
The plan's shift to paying providers for keeping people healthy, not just for seeing them when they are sick, is a game-changer. Suddenly, the work of a Link Worker—connecting a resident to debt advice, tackling the loneliness of an older person, or helping a family into better housing—is no longer a "soft" intervention. It is a hard-line economic and clinical necessity.
This means the role must evolve. The Social Prescribing Link Worker of the future is not just a sign poster for individuals. They have the potential to become local systems leader, a vital connector between the system and the community, and a strategic partner within the Neighbourhood Health Team. Their focus has the potential to expand from managing an individual caseload to improving the wellbeing of an entire population.
But they cannot do this alone. This plan is about bringing people together to build a new neighbourhood health service.
Collaborative Practice: Creating a New Model of CareAt Altogether Better, we have spent years developing and proving a model that turns this vision into a practical reality: Collaborative Practice . It's a model built on a simple but powerful truth: the greatest untapped health resource in any community is the community itself.
Collaborative Practice works by inviting people on a GP practice list to become 'Practice Health Champions,' as part of an extended practice/PCN team. This isn't about simply outsourcing tasks to willing helpers. It is a fundamental redesign of the team itself.
Collaborative Practice transforms the role of the Social Prescribing Link Worker:You Become a Leader, Not Just a Doer:
In collaborative practice, the Link Worker is part of a Collaborative Practice Team made up of a clinician, a manager, and other staff. Link workers often step up and act as the leader and convenor of a team of volunteer Practice Health Champions. Instead of being overwhelmed by an endless caseload, you leverage the passion and local knowledge of people on your list to support areas where they can have the most impact. One person's reach becomes the reach of twenty.
You Move from Signposting to "Connecting Community":
A Health Champion isn't just a signpost; they are a companion. They can walk with a resident to their first community group, help them navigate a complex form, or simply be a trusted, friendly face from their own street. This "warm handover" dramatically increases the chances that a person will connect and thrive. As the Link Worker, you are no longer just building a list of services; you are weaving a robust, resilient network of human support across your neighbourhood.
You Gain Unrivalled Community Intelligence:
In the new Neighbourhood Teams, Health Champions have the potential to become the eyes and ears of the system. They hear things a clinician never will. They know which street has a problem with damp housing, which community group is struggling, and where a new parent is feeling isolated. This "soft intelligence" is gold. Using a collaborative practice approach, you create formal channels to feed this information back into the MDT's strategic discussions, allowing the Neighbourhood Provider to move from reacting to individual crises to proactively addressing community-wide issues.
Imagine a morning MDT meeting in 2026. The GP is discussing a patient with complex, poorly controlled diabetes. The pharmacist provides input on medication. The nurse talks about their care plan.
And then, the Social Prescribing Link Worker speaks.
"The patient's Neighbourhood Health Champion has told me that the real issue is social isolation since their partner passed away, and they've lost the motivation to cook properly. The champion is connecting them with a local bereavement group and a 'Cooking for One' class run by the community centre. We believe this will have a bigger impact on their blood sugar than any medication changes right now."
This is not a fantasy. It's happening now in many PCNs around the country.
This is the future. It's a future where the health system finally recognises that health is created in our homes, our streets, and our communities.
The 'Fit for the Future' plan provides the mandate. The new financial models provide the incentive. And our evidence proves that Collaborative Practice, with Social Prescribing Link Workers and Neighbourhood Health Champions working as one, provide the mechanism to do it.
To learn more about how Altogether Better can help equip you to build this collaborative model in your neighbourhood, contact us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
About Alyson:
Part of the world I live: On the top of the Pennines near Ilkley in West Yorkshire.
Occupation: National Director, Altogether Better
What makes You well? The excitement of new possibilities and my baby grandson Fergus!
Why is social prescribing important? Social prescribing is important to me because it has the potential to truly change lives and the people who champion it and deliver it are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I was lucky enough to manage a Social Prescribing Service in Bradford in 2005, and I will always be a huge champion. In my view it is going to have an even more important role to play in the NHS of the future.
Your favourite nature-based space? Playing with my grandson Fergus – that usually involves chasing around the park or garden. I also love to get out on the water.
Your favourite music? Depends on my mood. I have very eclectic tastes – including a relatively new love of opera. But very happy to have an evening with Blondie and Nile Rodgers - and who not get up and dance when they hear September – Earth Wind and Fire! Can hear my sons groaning with embarrassment!
Your favourite pastime? I love travelling abroad but sadly don't do as much as I would like. I do enjoy eating out in new places and I do get lots of opportunity with friends and family.
If you had one wish for social prescribing, what would it be? To never stop punching above its weight!
I am working with PCN teams from across NE London who have come together to tackle health service generated health inequity. The teams are made up of Clinical Directors, GPs, Pharmacists, Nurses, Managers, Care Coordinators and Social Prescribing Link Workers. The Link Workers are without exception stepping forward as leaders of the future!
What are your leadership tips for others who want to set up social prescribing projects? Be curious, listen with your head and your heart, be bold and use kindness as a guiding principle and the rest will fall into place.
Which one person has most influenced you and why? That's a hard one! Too many to mention just one. So in the interest of diversity
Dave Chorlton – who died recently leaving a huge gap in so many people's lives. Dave was a practice health champion who changed so many peoples lives for the better.
The author Meg Wheatly – from whom I learnt how to eat a lobster properly and more importantly the guiding principles of making change happen in communities. My favourite principle of change– Humans can handle anything as long as we're together.
And lastly, former Minister of Public Enterprises in the South African Government, Alec Erwin- who helped me to understand that you don't follow governments, you follow communities and governments will follow.
Any advice for others when working in this space with communities?
Believe in it – we have got the evidence, we know it works. Just do it!