Dr. John Searle OBE, discusses the latest draft of the Professional and Operational Standards for Exercise Referral

-Dr. John Searle-

FIA Chief Medical Officer and Chair of the Joint Consultative Forum, Dr. John Searle OBE, discusses the latest draft of the Professional and Operational Standards for Exercise Referral, and what he is hoping to achieve through the consultation. 

The consultation on the Professional and Operational Standards for Exercise Referral has been live now for a couple of weeks, however we have been working on this for much, much longer. Those of you who regularly read this blog will know that work to establish the Joint Consultative Forum began almost two years ago!

In late 2009 we started negotiations with the Royal Colleges to establish a forum investigating an area of medical practice that does not often feature on the medical undergraduate curriculum, nor high on the priority list of GPs. However, we presented the evidence why establishing exercise in the prevention and management of chronic disease, and should be a priority for all GPs. After much negotiation the forum first met in the Summer of 2010 and less than a year later I am delighted that we are now seeking the views of the fitness sector and beyond on new Standards for Exercise Referral.

From the very first meeting of the Joint Consultative Forum, Exercise Referral has always been viewed as the logical first step for our work. From countless articles in peer reviewed journals we know that exercise is effective in the management of chronic disease, however we also know that NICE states that Exercise Referral Schemes are not effective and shouldn’t be commissioned unless for research purposes………….so this begs the question what is wrong with the delivery of exercise in the management of chronic disease.

I must say that I have witnessed countless examples of where exercise referral schemes improve the management of chronic conditions, a patient’s quality of life, and establish long term physical activity. However we need standards which assure commissioners of health services & treatment that all individuals within an exercise referral scheme are working to a common standard and I hope this is what the Professional and Operational Standards do!

The Professional and Operational Standards for Exercise Referral define the process, delivery and the evaluation of exercise referral services using current evidence so that auditable and comparable outcomes of services can be produced. We have not written the standards with tunnel vision ignoring what has come before, rather we have learnt from the lessons of 2001 National Quality Assurance Framework and the 2010 British Heart Foundation Exercise Referral Toolkit.

The standards set out the minimum requirements for:

•     Risk stratification of patients

•    The assessment and measurement of patients – how to measure physical activity, quality of life etc

•     Communication between patient, exercise referral instructors, and doctors

•     Sustaining long term physical activity through exit strategies

•     Record keeping, liability and medico-legal considerations

•     Reporting to commissioners

The standards will mark a change for many exercise referral scheme. However we are not expecting things to change overnight.  I have no doubt that in time the detail outlined in the standards will no doubt form the basis of what commissioners look for before signing off on any exercise referral schemes.

So the consultation is your first opportunity to shape the future of exercise referral and I hope you will all take it, to read the standards click here, and to tell us what you think about them click here.