SASP has successfully been awarded the contract to become the new lead provider to co-ordinate and manage a new physical activity on referral scheme for Somerset over the next three years.

The new scheme, named ProActive, will replace the former Exercise on Referral Scheme overseen by Public Health at Somerset County Council. Through ProActive, SASP will develop a service enabling a range of health professionals to refer individuals living with health conditions to supported exercise programmes.

ProActive will introduce individuals to the benefits of exercise with the support and guidance from Level 3 Exercise Referral Fitness Instructors, based in leisure and community facilities across the county. Their expertise will ensure ProActive participants receive appropriate exercise prescription and advice throughout a 12 week journey with them.

The service will include health screening, advice and access to a range of different types of activity. ProActive participants will be informed about these in their initial appointment and advised on the most suitable activity for them.

Visit the ProActive website here

Phone: 01823 653990

Email: proactive@sasp.co.uk

SASP has been working through putting in place the clinical guidance, new criteria, referral form, referral pathways and accreditation paperwork and guidance for ProActive. Leisure providers already accredited under Somerset County Council will have received copies of these and should now be aware of the new structure and paperwork.

ProActive was officially introduced to Somerset in September with two online webinars which provided an outline of the scheme, paperwork and new pathways. All existing accredited leisure providers were invited to attend one of these events.

New leisure providers looking to join ProActive will be able to apply for accreditation status once the existing centres have been re-accredited under the new set of criteria over coming months. If you would like to express an interest in applying for accreditation status, please email proactive@sasp.co.uk. Your details will be saved and the ProActive team will contact you once applications are open for new schemes.

Healthcare and allied health professionals in Primary Care can now refer a patient to ProActive using the referral form, criteria and leisure provider directory available on EMIS. If the new ProActive forms have not yet been downloaded to EMIS in your setting, please contact the ProActive team at SASP, along with the name and contact details of the setting. It is important that the new ProActive paperwork is used as soon as possible as all previous versions will become obsolete next month.

Healthcare, allied health and fitness professionals (Level 4) working outside of primary care will need to download editable versions of the paperwork from the new ProActive website.

ProActive was officially introduced to Somerset in September with two online webinars which provided an outline of the scheme, paperwork and new pathways. All health and fitness professionals interested in the ProActive scheme were invited to attend one of these events.

For more information about the ProActive scheme, please email proactive@sasp.co.uk.

These events are for Level 3 and Level 4 GP Referral instructors working on the ProActive scheme, and those undergoing training to achieve this (funded by SASP).

It is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding, or recap of, specific health conditions within the inclusion criteria of ProActive and how they can be impacted by exercise prescription. The workshop is led by experts in their field within the NHS in Somerset and may include a mix of theory, case studies, questions and answers.

Click below to discover our upcoming webinars!