David Stalker reports on ukactive’s latest medical engagement work, and a new partnership that sees ukactive join forces with Sport England to put more weight behind its drive to put an exercise professional into every GP surgery

Engaging with the medical community is a ukactive strategic objective, as part of our desire to establish physical activity as a core business of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

We were therefore very supportive of the news last month that two new physical activity measures have been added to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) – the incentive programme for GP surgeries in England. For a number of years, ukactive has lobbied for change in this area, calling for physical activity to be recognised in the QOF and working with various professional medical bodies to add to strength to this message.

The new measures set thresholds for increasing physical activity in patients with hypertension, and delivering lifestyle advice on physical activity to hypertensive patients, of which there are currently 7.3 million in the UK.

Added to that very positive news, we are also on the threshold of publishing the findings of the ukactive Research Institute pilot study, as well as the long-awaited release of professional standards for the delivery of exercise in the management of disease, produced by the ukactive Joint Consultative Forum.

Into GP surgeries
We are also expanding our drive to put an exercise professional in every GP surgery. Last month it was announced that a ukactive-led partnership – involving NHS Bedfordshire, teamBEDS&LUTON and local authorities across Bedfordshire – has been selected as one of 14 pilots supported by a £5.8m Sport England fund designed to support inactive people to Get Healthy and Get into Sport.

This new partnership will see the motivational interviewing programme Let’s Get Moving expand into Bedfordshire and Luton, helping the most inactive members of the local community improve their activity levels.

For the first time, the Let’s Get Moving physical activity care pathway – originally developed by the Department of Health, validated by Loughborough University and recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) – will be further supported by being seamlessly integrated into the hugely successful Get Back Into programme pioneered by teamBEDS&LUTON and Re-Active8 by Bedford Borough Council. This will provide a direct entry route for previously inactive people to try out a new sport in a friendly and welcoming environment.

The project follows the successful testing of the Let’s Get Moving model by ukactive and a consortium of partners with five Primary Care Trusts in Essex (see HCM June 12, p24). This saw 504 previously inactive participants amass a total of 164 million steps, amounting to 48,000 active hours, 11.2 million kcal and 69,000 miles walked – a significant outcome that showed the scale of impact that can be achieved by taking a robust approach to public health interventions.

We believe that putting an exercise professional into every GP surgery can have a dramatic impact on the health of the nation, particularly when armed with motivational interviewing techniques, the ability to signpost into sports and activity sessions, and direct access to patients as part of the practice team. This project provides us with another opportunity to prove that case.

Activity pathways
As NHS Bedfordshire’s Craig Lister has said, its programme will use sport in an innovative manner, supporting people to move away from unhealthy lifestyles in a sustainable and enjoyable way. Using local professionals and a rapid referral system, while people are still in a position of wanting to change, should lead to improved outcomes and better health.

The backing from Sport England provides the necessary resources to deliver both sporting and health outcomes for inactive people in Bedfordshire, by testing whether the pathway can deliver sporting outcomes as well as getting people more active generally. It will also help us to further systemise this concept, to support its continued expansion into other areas of the country.