Following calls from GPC England, LMCs, and PCNs, NHS England has today agreed to extend the purpose of the ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) funding for Social Prescribers.
We are aware that nearly all organisations supplying a Social Prescriber Link Worker Service (SPLW) are passing on additional cost over and above the equivalent of the actual salary and the on costs, for example in administration fees. The ARRS scheme will be updated so that, where a PCN engages an SPLW service through a supplier, a PCN will be able to claim an additional flat-rate sum of £2400 per SPLW (on an annual WTE basis; to be pro-rated by the WTE and duration of the roles providing the service as appropriate) as a contribution toward those additional costs. This must be affordable within the existing maximum annual reimbursable amount for social prescribing link workers. This will apply to any existing supply arrangements for SLPWs and any new supply arrangements for SPLWs agreed from this point forward.