Become a Physical Activity Clinical Champion!

Healthcare professionals are encouraged to join a peer training network and support fellow professionals to discuss getting active with patients.

The Physical Activity team at Public Health England (PHE) is calling healthcare professionals, who are passionate about the role of physical activity in improving their patient's health to apply for a role as a Physical Activity Clinical Champion and join a national network to deliver online training sessions to peers.

The network of 40+ Physical Activity Clinical Champions - made up of allied healthcare professionals, nurses and GPs - work with PHE and NHS organisations to deliver training about the benefits of physical activity in preventing and managing common conditions, to groups of 12 to 15 healthcare professionals (HCPs.)

PHE are currently recruiting nurses, midwives, allied healthcare professionals and medics, to help create a culture where HCPs have frequent and quality conversations with patients about the benefits of keeping active.

To find out more about each role and how to apply, visit:

• https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v3133655 to apply for the Nurse or Midwife Physical Activity Clinical Champion
• https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v3133769 to apply for the AHP Physical Activity Clinical Champion
• https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v3133550 to apply for the Medic Physical Activity Clinical Champion

Additional information

Despite the benefits of physical activity, many adults across the UK are not active enough for good health, particularly people with disabilities or long-term conditions.

The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the inequalities which can limit someone's ability to be active. Sport England's Active Lives report found that the number of inactive adults in England rose by 1.2 million during the first eight months of Covid-19 restrictions.

However, the pandemic has shown us why building physical activity into our everyday lives, can go a long way to increasing our health resilience and reducing the risk of serious illness – like Covid.

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play a role in addressing inactivity, with 1 in 4 people stating that they would be more active if advised by a GP or nurse. HCPs and NHS leaders can support more patients to be active by creating a culture that promotes and embeds physical activity interventions within routine clinical care.

The Physical Activity Clinical Champions role forms part of the national Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme, which provide further training and resource to support HCPs to have discussions with patients about physical activity. To find out more about, please contact the physical activity team on physicalactivity@phe.gov.uk or visit Moving Healthcare Professionals | Sport England

If you are a healthcare professional in Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland and would like to arrange a free "Physical Activity for the Management and Prevention of Long-Term Health Conditions" training session for your team/department, please contact b.cornish@lrsport.org (minimum 12 participants).

(Source: Public Health England)