Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people diagnosed with cancer to use local exercise facilities.

The National Health Service has published exercise guidelines for cancer patients and patients may access to local exercise facilities through social prescribing measures by their healthcare team. Advice on appropriate exercise and how to stay active during treatment forms part of any personalised care protocol, such as the personalised stratified follow up pathways deployed for a number of cancers.

Social prescribing link workers in primary care can support cancer patients to connect with local exercise opportunities. The Primary Care Directed Enhanced Services contract states that all Primary Care Networks (PCNs) must have access to social prescribing services. This is usually through the PCN commissioning social prescribing link workers using the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.