Yorkshire Regional Event – Free Physical Activity Training

About this event

A national network of expert Physical Activity Clinical Champions is delivering FREE tailored, peer to peer training sessions to groups of NHS healthcare professionals (HCPs), trainees and students.

Supporting healthcare professionals to improve patient care and outcomes

Around 1 in 3 men and half of women are not achieving recommended levels of activity for good health, with people with long-term conditions twice as likely to be amongst the least active. Physical activity is incorporated across NICE clinical guidance, with evidence suggesting 1 in 4 people would be more active if advised by a GP or nurse.

However, 70-80% of GPs do not speak about the benefits of physical activity to patients. This can be associated with knowledge, skills and confidence gaps across HCPs. For example, a survey of 1,000 GPs found:

• Less than half (44%) of GPs are confident speaking about physical activity with patients
• Over half (55%) of GPs had had no specific training on physical activity in patient care
• 4 in 5 (80%) of GPs are not familiar with the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines

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Speaker

Dr Varun Anand

Dr Varun Anand is a Portfolio GP in Hull with a special interest in Lifestyle Medicine. He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2012 and completed Academic GP Training in 2018. He is a GP Tutor for Hull York Medical School, Chair of the RCGP ‘GPs with an Interest in Nutrition and Lifestyle Special Interest Group’ (GPING), Bupa Health Assessments GP at Spire Hull and East Riding Hospital and recently appointed Physical Activity Clinical Champion for Public Health England. Varun’s other interests include cricket, parkrun, and spending time with his baby daughter!

Benefits of training

Attending this FREE training provides the opportunity to:

• Access evidence-based resources proven to increase knowledge and confidence, and support clinical practice in line with guidance (e.g. NICE)

• Improve management and care of patients with 30+ long-term conditions (e.g. CVD, type 2 diabetes, depression, MSK issues, some cancers)

• Help reduce service demand and costs i.e. the ~£0.9bn annual cost to the NHS associated with insufficient physical activity

The evidence

Over 25,000 HCPs have been trained so far. An independent evaluation demonstrated improvements in participant knowledge, confidence and frequency of patient physical activity conversations:

• 84% agreed the training was useful in their work

• 91% would recommend the training to their colleagues

• 40% of HCPs were having more conversations with their patients about physical activity post-training

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