“I think every GP in Australia has had a patient come in repeatedly for a mental health issue or social problem, then they join a group, start a sport, pick up a hobby — and you don’t see them again.”

So says Dr James Ibrahim, Sydney GP and the inaugural chair of the RACGP’s specific interests group for social prescribing.

It’s a concept still in its infancy, but the general idea is to encourage GPs to “prescribe” something other than a medical intervention: anything from suggesting a patient join a local running group to linking them with a social service.

The new group has timed its run well on a few fronts.