Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Nuffield Health and Manchester Metropolitan University report Unlocking the 'miracle cure', published in December 2024, and whether those findings will inform their plans to integrate physical activity into NHS treatment pathways for preventing and managing long-term health conditions.

The Government has not made a specific assessment of the report. However, the Government welcomes the announcement of the new venture between Manchester Metropolitan University and Nuffield Health and will be keen to learn from this work as it delivers physical activity support to people living with chronic conditions.

The National Health Service, together with local authorities, provides a range of services such as exercise on referral and social prescribing, including exercise classes, falls prevention through strength and balance classes for older adults, walking groups and promotion of digital support like the NHS Active 10 walking app.

Interventions like the one in Manchester demonstrate the valuable work across local areas to embed movement into people’s care. There are other established examples of local NHS and local government approaches across the country that integrate physical activity into clinical care including perioperative care and cancer and cardiac rehabilitation.

NHS England is working closely with partners nationally and locally to explore how the NHS might galvanise support to make physical activity a core part of NHS care, to benefit patients, NHS staff and the wider public. By empowering clinicians and healthcare professionals with the skills and confidence to discuss and promote physical activity, by integrating it into key clinical pathways and by aligning it with Core20PLUS5 for adults, children and young people, the NHS could help to transform patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities.

Whilst the Government and NHS recognise the value of integrating physical activity into clinical care, prevention will always be better, and cheaper, than cure. The Health Mission, on which the Department leads, is focused on shifting towards a more preventative approach to healthcare.