Press release taken from Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group website
19 July 2019
We’ve awarded Everybody Sport and Recreation a contract to run free pain-relief sessions to NHS patients in Eastern Cheshire.
We’re funding the sessions for adults over the age of 45 to reduce pain and disability in people with long-standing hip or knee pain.
People can be referred onto the course by their GP or practice nurse or can self-refer by going directly to Everybody Sport and Recreation:
- Email [email protected]
- Telephone 01270 685 589
- Speaking to a member of staff at your local Everybody Leisure Centre
- Booking on to the programme is essential as places are limited
The course offers six sessions, with full access to the gym and swimming pool at Everybody Sport and Recreation’s leisure centres. The programme includes:
- Receiving information, advice and support from qualified ESCAPE-pain instructors to help better manage long-standing joint pain and lead a more active life.
- Taking part in a group exercise programme, twice a week over six weeks, tailored to individual need.
- A chance to socialise with and learn from other people living with osteoarthritis.
The sessions will help participants carry out normal activities, manage symptoms and be more active.
The sessions also include unlimited access to a mobile app, which means that participants can access their prescribed exercises anywhere, as well as many other exercises on the system.
Benefits of the ESCAPE-pain sessions include:
- Reduced pain
- Improved physical function
- Improved mental wellbeing, self-confidence and self-esteem.
Dr Andrew Wilson, our clinical chair, said: “One of our priorities is to help people with long-term conditions stay as active and healthy as possible. That not only improves physical and mental wellbeing but also reduces demand on hard-pressed NHS services.”
Although this is the first time the NHS has funded the programme, Everybody Sport and Recreation has been offering it in Cheshire East for more than 12 months, using funding from the Health Innovation Network and Sport England.
Osteoarthritis sufferer Janice Masterton, from Crewe, aged 71, said: “Before I came on this course, I couldn’t get up out of a chair very well but now I can do it quite easily and I have a lot more confidence in my ability to do physical things.”
The sessions will be held across Cheshire including Bollington, Congleton, Holmes Chapel, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Poynton and Wilmslow.
Click here for more information or to meet some of the Everybody Sport and Recreation members who have benefited from attending the ESCAPE-pain programme.