This Command Paper sets out the government’s response to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry into sport and exercise science and medicine.
The government welcomes the Committee’s report and its focus upon the quality and application of sports and exercise science and medicine.
Scientific breakthroughs into health benefits for patients and the public represents a major opportunity as a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In particular the Command paper sets out how the Government is:
- targeting investment to support the translation of biomedical research
- working with the country’s first National Centre of Excellence for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) to provide a strong evidence base for clinical best practice in relation to sport, exercise and health
The government:
- agrees that there is an opportunity for the NCSEM to provide a strategic lead and will work closely with the NCSEM on how the Centre will be sustainable
- agrees with the Committee’s emphasis upon the role of health professionals in promoting physical activity to their patients and the exciting potential for the prescription of exercise to manage chronic conditions subject to the evidence
- is committed to the dissemination of the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines for physical activity to professionals and the public