News Stories

Publish date: 16 January 2023

Significant progress made during two-year project to encourage physical activity

A birds-eye shot of a group of people huddled together in the sea.

An inspiring film about a group of North East midwives who discovered the physical, mental and social benefits of sea swimming is just one legacy from a two-year physical activity pilot.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was one of just four organisations in the country to be part of the Active Hospitals pilot, which sought to improve healthcare professionals’ awareness of the importance of physical activity while boosting their confidence and skills to promote it to patients.

The project focused on a number of specific patient pathways – oncology, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, maternity and pre-operative assessment plus staff wellbeing alongside the creation of an Active Ward on an elderly care ward.

Now, the trust, which runs hospitals and community services in Northumberland and North Tyneside, has released a report reflecting on the progress made in all of the pathways following the completion of the two-year national programme, which ran from October 2020 to November 2022.

The report, which is available online here, reveals that hundreds of staff, covering roles across the hospital workforce, have had physical activity training to give them confidence to support patients to move more and stay active. It also lists the significant number of positive outcomes across key themes – workforce, infrastructure, culture, promotional activity and community outreach.

In the case of staff wellbeing, the pilot tied in with extensive efforts already underway at Northumbria Healthcare to support staff, which had been present before Covid-19, but were certainly put into sharp focus since the start of the pandemic.

The Northumbria Mermids, as the sea swimming group calls itself, formed at this time, but continues to reap the benefits to this day.

Maternity support worker Ali Al-Omari said: “I feel like any sort of physical activity is good for your mental health. I’m a firm believer that if you feel good physically then you feel good mentally too.”

Steph Staward, a ward clerk, added: “When I come into work, I don’t feel as stressed because I’ve been able to chill and have fun. I work better, life is better because I don’t feel like I’m wound up all the time.”

The maternity pathway has led to a raft of new initiatives. This has included setting up buggy walks for new mums and training midwives to deliver aquanatal classes. The introduction of health coaches and This Mum Moves training for staff has further built on the wide-ranging work of the trust’s public health midwife.

Meanwhile, the Active Ward at North Tyneside General Hospital has seen staff making sure they talk to patients about the benefits of being active. Patients are also encouraged to move more through a range of activities, from chair dancing and bowling, to balloon games, drawing, painting, bingo and quizzes.

It has resulted in more patients being up, dressed and ready to engage in therapy during their stay and appears to have supported earlier discharge in some cases. A second phase and wider roll-out of the Active Ward model is now being planned. It will feed into trust-wide efforts to prevent falls and deconditioning.

Northumbria Healthcare’s consultant in public health, Jill Harland, said: “We may have come to the end of the two-year national pilot, but this is certainly not it for Active Hospitals at Northumbria.

“As a trust, we are committed to building on all of the good work that has been started since October 2020. We know how important physical activity is for both patients and staff and it plays a key role in the recently-signed Health Weight Declaration.

“From maternity to oncology, Parkinson’s to pre-operative patients, the pilot has underlined that moving more, in whatever way works for you, is key to remaining healthy and supporting recovery.”

Active Hospitals was funded by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Sport England and the National Lottery, and led by the NHS Transformation Unit.