The UK NHS has a first SIB issue just as the British General Election officially kicks off while south of the River Thames, more discussion of the Shakespeare “Globe” SIB…
Investment Firm Funds First NHS Social Impact Bond
LGC
An investment firm has put £1.65m into what it claims to be the first social impact bond in the health service.
Bridges Ventures is putting the money into the bond, issued by Newcastle West Clinical Commissioning Group, which will be used to fund the Ways to Wellness programme to help patients manage long term conditions.
As part of the programme patients will be referred to the programme directly by their GPs, to receive non-medical interventions to encourage lifestyle changes and better self-care. It will operate under an outcomes based contract.
Services will be provided by four voluntary sector organisations which were selected following a formal procurement: Changing Lives, First Contact Clinical, HealthWORKS Newcastle and Mental Health Concern.
It is based on the “social prescribing” model, which Newcastle GP practices have already been using on a smaller scale.
The programme is due to launch this week and will run for seven years. It is estimated to affect about 11,000 patients. It is not clear exactly how Bridges Ventures will achieve a return on their investment.
The programme will also receive £2m from the Big Lottery Fund’s commissioning better outcomes fund, and £1m from the Cabinet Office’s social outcomes fund.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Sets Stage For New Funding For Culture
Astrid Zweynert – Reuters
William Shakespeare’s Globe theatre is taking on a new role as a financial trail-blazer by seeking to tap into a form of funding dominated to date by social enterprises and charities.
The Globe theatre on the banks of the River Thames in London is in the early stages of preparing a five million pound social impact bond which it hopes will help finance a new library, archive and research centre.
Britain launched the world’s first social impact bond in 2010 to help raise funds from private investors for a programme to reduce re-offending among male inmates at Peterborough Prison, 95 miles (152 kms) northeast of London.
The aim of social impact bonds is to raise funding for social enterprises or charities directed towards creating social or environmental good with investors receiving returns if a specified performance goal is met.
There are now more than 30 social impact bonds in Britain, covering areas such as homelessness, foster care and youth unemployment.