GPs should prescribe “personal playlists” to help patients with dementia, and end a culture of doling out a pill for every ill, the Health Secretary will say today.

Matt Hancock will say the NHS has for too long fostered “a culture that’s popping pills and Prozac” and should instead recommend more trips to the library or concert hall.

The Health Secretary will say that the country needs “more prevention and perspiration” as he cals for a shift away from “over-medicalising” the population.

He will tell a conference in London today that music can help dementia patients, reducing agitation, and relience on medication, suggesting the NHS should prescribe “personal playlists” which help dementia patients and their families cope better with symptoms.

Today he will announce plans for National Academy for Social Prescribing, to ensure that GPs in all parts of the country refer patients for hobbies, sports and arts groups which can keep them active and fend off loneliness.

"We've been fostering a culture that's popping pills and Prozac when what we should be doing is more prevention and perspiration," he is expected to say.

"Social prescribing can help us combat over-medicalising people ... dishing out drugs when it isn't what's best for the patient and it won't solve their problem."