GP exercise prescriptions 'met with resistance'

Under the scheme, GPs can prescribe walking or cycling to reduce people's reliance on medication

A health scheme that sees doctors prescribe walking and cycling to patients has been met with resistance, a report said.

In July 2023 it was announced that Bradford would be one of 11 local authorities to be awarded funding from the Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilot, with the district getting £1.34m.

Under the scheme, doctors encouraged people to take up exercise if they felt it would prove more effective than medication.

However, Bradford Council found that referrals from GPs had not been "as productive as initially assumed".

The government-funded plan aims to reduce the number of GP appointments, with prescriptions ranging from support to get started cycling or to build up fitness with a walk leader.

Detail of the scheme’s progress was included in a report that will go before the council’s regeneration and environment scrutiny committee on Tuesday, according to the Local Democracy Service.

The report said of 295 participants, only 19% came from the classic referral route of support or clinical settings, while 23% came from the voluntary and community sector.

Reasons identified for the halting success include low levels of understanding and acceptance of active travel and issues such as damaged paths or anti-social behaviour.

Discussions were now under way to link the pilot to an established local exercise referral scheme and a review would be carried out to understand how aware people were of local paths and what support they needed to get more active.

'Lessons learned for future schemes'

James Greenwood, active travel social prescribing manager, said since the launch, 100 volunteers and partners had been trained and around £120,000 had been invested to support active travel initiatives.

More than 120 e-bikes were also provided based on feedback from participants in pilot areas such as Barkerend, Bradford Moor, Manningham, Girlington and Central Keighley, Mr Greenwood said.

He added: “While the first year’s subscription scheme is coming to an end for new referrals, we are busy taking the learning and looking at how we tweak things for a future scheme."

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