Melissa Dutton

Melissa Dutton is our social prescriber

Social prescriber Mel Dutton loves her role, advising on lifestyle issues including isolation, bereavement and fitness concerns and making connections with community organisations, charities and wellbeing services. She understands patients’ needs and likes helping them as, not only does she have a degree in health and social care, but she is also a former patient services advisor. 

Mel first learned about the role as she got to know the social prescribers at her previous surgery, who encouraged her to do it for herself. She successfully applied for her current role at the Four Counties Personalised Care team, working with patients at The Stamford Surgery and The Hereward Surgery in Bourne, and says the job is all she had hoped it would be.

She credits the Personalised Care Team Lead, Neets Lyons, with giving her a very extensive and supportive induction: ‘Neets is just wonderful and super encouraging and supportive. No question is a silly question and you just know you can go to her with anything. It was the right move for me. It was about the personal development as I want to keep challenging myself and learning more. We are always training.’

GPs may refer patients to Mel as she typically can offer longer appointment slots, particularly during the initial consultation, either face to face or over the telephone.  Depending on the issue Mel will schedule follow up appointments over weeks or months to offer the best support and advice.

Mel said: ‘For me patient services was definitely a foundation role to get the idea of what patients wanted or were asking for. With reception that is just the doorway and, although you are seeing them to a point, you are never seeing their journey’s end and that is why I wanted to do social prescribing. Social prescribing is person-centered and I have my own case load so I am seeing them through the process.’

Although initially planning a career in midwifery, she was unable to complete her training due to her family’s work commitments overseas so, to keep her brain ticking over, she did her degree.

‘My last module was focused on working with people with mental health issues so it was quite a big thing and appealing for me. A lot of it was covering work in the community so it was completely relevant. There is so much in the area with Mindspace and Don’t Lose Hope and in the community and voluntary sector.  Someone could present with something you have never had before so you do have to always keep up-to-date and think creatively.

‘We cover isolation, bereavement, cancer care reviews.. It is about building relationships with every single person. I am a military wife and I have that background so my ears prick a bit when I get a veteran, just because there are services out there for them. It is about forming relationships with people, meeting and supporting them. I loved patient services and was very lucky I came from a role which I loved. For me my role has always been person-centred, no matter what I have done and it has been a huge learning curve over the past few months.’

Published: Aug 4, 2025