Nhs, Sport England & Ukactive In Social Prescribing Partnership

A new partnership between Sport England, ukactive, NHS England and the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) will see some 500,000 hours of activity made available at no cost as part of social prescribing services being rolled out across England.

The new scheme, which aims to support people to better manage their health and wellbeing, will see social prescribing formally connected with fitness and leisure activities in local communities and people referred to fitness activities that fit with their lifestyle.

Working alongside GPs, Social Prescribing connects people to activities such as fitness groups, swimming, walking, dancing, running, or gardening groups, depending on the person’s interests.

In order to access the scheme, people will need to be referred by a Social Prescribing Link Worker, and according to ukactive, some 100,000 people could benefit from the free gym and leisure sessions.

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO, Sport England, said: “Healthcare providers are uniquely placed to help introduce people to physical activity as part of a range of efforts to help manage overall health and wellbeing.

“This is why Sport England has been working with partners like NASP to create innovative ways to encourage more social prescribing.

“This new partnership with NHS England will introduce more people to physical activity via free gym sessions and having local fitness facilities to signpost patients to will make it easier for healthcare professionals to build activity into the health plans they are prescribing.”

Huw Edwards, CEO, ukactive, added: “Being physically active has never been so important and now is the time to recognise it as a major solution to help reduce the pressure on the NHS and lead people to live healthier, happier lives.

“This partnership is a great opportunity for the fitness sector to play a crucial role in helping the country’s health, with the facilities and highly trained staff ready to partner with the NHS where needed.

“This is a real opportunity to see what is working and what we can replicate to make physical activity part of the solution to improve people’s quality of life.”

It is expected that the scheme will be negotiated on a local level, with a national rollout from 1 April 2021, with a number of advanced Primary Care Network sites ready to offer this scheme to local residents in the new year.