Calderdale GPs Pioneer Innovative Approach to NHS Staff Wellness

Healthcare professionals across Calderdale are now being offered an exciting new opportunity to enhance their health and fitness by way of a groundbreaking workplace wellness initiative.

The innovative programme encourages staff to increase their physical activity levels through engaging team-based challenges and digital tracking technology.

September marked the start of Pennine GP Alliance’s inaugural wellbeing challenge, designed to reward staff who complete 15 minutes of daily exercise. 

After four weeks of competition, the highest-scoring team of employees will be crowned champions, after which participants will continue to be encouraged with similar gamified activity.

This pioneering programme is delivered by Active Teams and funded by Active Calderdale, addressing a critical local health challenge. 

Currently, one-third of adults in the Calderdale area do not engage in regular physical activity, significantly impacting their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

Healthcare professionals working within the Calder & Ryburn Primary Care Network will be the first to be offered access to Active Teams, with further Primary Care Networks in Calderdale following suit.

By investing in the wellness of those who care for our communities, this programme represents a significant step towards creating healthier workplaces and, ultimately, a healthier local population.

"Physical activity brings significant benefits to peoples' mental and physical health, but it isn’t a habit for everyone. We’re proud to support our staff’s wellbeing through this initiative and look forward to seeing how their experiences inspire patients. When healthcare staff make activity part of their lives, they can share its benefits in a more meaningful way," Hannah Davies, General Practice Physical Activity Champion at Pennine GP Alliance told That's Health.

“We need innovative approaches to support the NHS' shift from treatment to prevention. Services like Active Teams, which encourage people towards reaching healthy levels of physical activity through fun team competitions and challenges, are going to be an important piece of the puzzle. Many people are employed in sedentary roles and more employers should be considering preventative health measures like Active Teams, to increase staff health, wellbeing and productivity,” Nairn Robertson, Founder of Active Team added.

The initiative to promote fitness among front line NHS staff aligns with the government's strategy to start increasing physical activity levels nationwide. The approach prioritises healthcare workers on the frontlines of our health services, as detailed in the recent government whitepaper "Get Britain Working” and “Fit For The Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England”.

The Health Impact: Research demonstrates that just 22 minutes of moderate physical activity per day can deliver remarkable health benefits:

- Reducing stress and anxiety by up to 30%*

- Lowering the risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes by 40%**

- Minimising musculoskeletal problems, a leading cause of workplace absence across the UK***

Moderate activity is where your heart rate is raised, making you breathe harder and break a sweat, but so that you can still talk.

FACTFILE:-

Active Calderdale works with communities to make physical activity a normal part of everyday life. As part of the wider 'We’re All Active Calderdale' network, Active Calderdale helps promote movement, increase opportunities to be active, and encourage collaboration across sectors - particularly focusing on underrepresented or inactive groups. This collective effort brings wide-ranging benefits, including improved health and wellbeing, stronger social cohesion, and positive economic impact.

active.calderdale.gov.uk

Great News! Commonly used bowel cancer test could be used to detect other serious diseases, finds a new study

A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has discovered people who test positive following a stool test for symptoms of bowel cancer, had double the risk of death after one year than people who had negative tests, and most of the deaths were due to other causes.

The data from the study, which is led by Professor David Humes in the School of Medicine and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will now be used to look at whether this certain test could be used to test for other types of diseases, as well as bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer and second highest cause of cancer death in the UK.  This new study, published in the journal Lancet Primary Care, looked at FITs (faecal immunochemical tests). FITs are used by GPs to detect microscopic traces of blood in people’s poo who have symptoms of bowel cancer (colorectal cancer).

If the test is ‘negative’, then the risk of bowel cancer is very low and no further tests are needed.

“There has been a huge increase in the number of FITs being done each year but there are many other reasons why someone might have a 'positive' result,” Dr Francesca Malcolm, a Clinical Research Fellow in Colorectal Surgery and NIHR Doctoral Fellow in the School of Medicine at the University and lead author of the study told That's Health.

Research from bowel cancer screening has linked a 'positive' FIT with an increased risk of dying from diseases other than bowel cancer. No studies have looked at whether this is the case in patients having FIT for symptoms of bowel cancer.

“We have done the first study looking into the risk of death in patients who have had a ‘positive’ FIT with symptoms of bowel cancer,” adds Dr Malcolm.

The team used anonymous data which was collected from nearly 50,000 patients living in Nottingham between 2017 and 2022 who had a FIT due to symptoms of bowel cancer.

In the year following a FIT due to bowel cancer symptoms, 1,971 (4%) patients died.

“In our study, after one-year patients with a ‘positive’ FIT had double the risk of death compared to patients with a ‘negative’ test. Whilst this is a test for bowel cancer most of deaths were due to other causes.

“We hope to use these results to improve how FIT is used in future. The next step is to look at causes of death after a ‘positive’ FIT as this will help decide whether other diseases should be tested for after a 'positive' result.”

The full study can be found here https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanprc/article/PIIS3050-5143(25)00007-X/fulltext

Pole dance your way to a better body this summer?

You’ve watched it on TV, read about it in the press and heard about celebrities doing it, now you too can pole dance your way to a better body this summer in the comfort of your own home.

If you've not tried pole dancing then now's the time as it's the fitness trend that continues to grow in popularity in the UK, with pole classes in many gym chains. It's also proved to be more than a fad, with pole dancing bidding for a place in the Olympics alongside Cheerleading and Yoga.

Pole dancing is a full body workout that will help you tone up, lose weight and get fit - whilst having a great time and gaining body confidence. You’ll be amazed at the variety of exercises you can do with a pole, similar to exercises you might do in the gym, but using your own body weight for resistance. From chin ups and crunches to work your arms and abs, to pole climbs and swan holds for your legs and bum - you can work it all on a pole!

Pole Motion: Pole Fitness Volume 1 is a complete pole fitness workout on DVD, led by expert instructor Justine McLucas. The Pole Motion workout uses the pole to its maximum potential as a versatile piece of fitness equipment, which enables you to improve your fitness whilst learning an artistic skill.

You'll have fun, get fit and feel sexy whilst learning a complete workout routine, from warm up exercises through to spins, poses, toning and stretches, all accompanied by a great dance music soundtrack! Whether you're a beginner or already pole dancing, Pole Motion is the perfect workout.

The DVD includes easy to follow, step by step instruction with one of the UK’s elite polers Justine McLucas talking you through the moves including basic spins, poses, pole sits, floorwork and hand grips. There are 3 lessons, 4 routines, 3 tone up sessions to strengthen and tone muscles, a fun warm up routine around the pole, stretch out session and special bonus features including a pole terminology section. DVD RRP 14.99 GBP

For the complete solution you can order the ‘Pole fitness start kit’ featuring: X-Pole Sport dance pole, Pole Motion - Pole Fitness DVD, Resistance Band and Vertical Fitness magazine. At only 159.99 GBP from www.polemotion.com, getting started in pole fitness is cheaper than a rowing machine or treadmill and could be the best investment you’ve ever made!

Justine McLucas also featured in the recent series of 'Got to Dance' and Pole Fitness was also tried and tested in the Fit Gear show on Fitness TV Sky Channel 282.

Sportsdirect.com launch big!

Sportsdirect.com are launching their biggest ever catalogue this month. At 724 pages and with 2 million copies being printed, there are reportedly enough pages to circle the world eight and a half times.

This bumper catalogue boasts over 5,800 products, but it is more than a mere catalogue, as it features interviews from top athletes like Wayne Rooney, Paula Radcliffe, and John McEnroe. It is filled with expert tips and expertise plus you will find some exciting competitions to win some amazing prizes like trips to Mount Everest, the French Alps & London 2012 tickets.

As well as a comprehensive clothing and footwear guide, it has specialist sections for many sports including football, rugby, golf, outdoor, bikes, racket sports, fitness, etc., perfect for any sports enthusiast.

Vincent Smith, who is the chief of marketing at Sportsdirect.com commented: “As a key focus of our marketing strategy, it was essential our latest edition contained true added value in product proposition, editorial content and consumer offers. Our objectives through work carried out with Haymarket network and internal teams have been realised in exceptional fashion “.

Simon Kanter, the publisher Haymarket’s Editorial Director, said "From a Haymarket point of view the new catalogue is really ground-breaking and delivers far more than a product brochure. Packed with vouchers and competitions, Sportsdirect.com is giving more than just value for money, it is delivering its customers a genuinely useful guide".

The www.Sportsdirect.com catalogue is already available in stores at 50p and is also available on line.

No gym contracts? That's not a problem!

Innovative offering opens up gym membership to all.

In the light of the Office of Fair Trading announcing a high court ruling deeming that deals locking gym-goers into long-term contracts are ‘unfair’ and ‘unenforceable’, there is an even greater need for more flexible options such as those offered by the affordable gym chain, Pure Gym.

It was announced recently that anyone locked into a gym contract of a year or more should be free to cancel it without incurring any cost to themselves.

The court action was brought by the OFT against Ashbourne Management Services, who operate membership schemes for 500,000 members of small independent gyms across Britain.

Removing industry stereotypes like inflexible contracts, limited opening hours and high cost memberships, Pure Gym offers low cost membership including ‘Price for life’, 24 hour opening and no contract. The concept is already proving a big hit with a quarter (25%) of their members having never joined a gym before.

In the biggest shake-up of the £2.5bn fitness industry in some two decades, Pure Gym has been starting a fitness revolution following its own survey results that reveal the biggest barriers to joining a gym are high membership fees (72%), fixed contracts (40%) and lack of time (55%).

Peter Roberts, Pure Gym Founder and CEO said: “This is positive news for gym users across the UK, many of whom have suffered heavy-handed tactics like threats to damage credit ratings if members are unable or unwilling to pay the minimum term of long contracts.

“The Pure Gym model aims to encourage those who have never joined a gym before,plus providing an affordable and flexible option for those who expect more from their memberships and who do not want to commit to long-term contracts.”

Pure Gym launched in 2009 and currently has 15 gyms open and an additional five sites secured. By the end of 2011 Pure Gym hopes to have opened 25 sites across the country in total.

For more details you can visit www.puregym.co.uk.