Integrating physical and emotional health in a non-clinical setting

We have signed a Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) with the British Psychological Society to identify and deliver a model of best practice for integrating physical and emotional health care in a non-clinical setting.

One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem this year. While the one in four statistic is useful in terms of indicating how common mental health problems are, we believe that everyone has emotional wellbeing needs, in the same way that they have physical health needs. Together with the British Psychological Society we will review existing evidence and develop a pilot of best practice to be delivered in our fitness and wellbeing clubs.

Following the pilot, the two organisations will conduct a full review of all the findings to make recommendations to the British Psychological Society’s Membership and Standards Board for further developments.

Sarb Bajwa, CEO at the British Psychological Society, comments: “We are excited to be entering into this partnership with Nuffield Health. Through our combined expertise we hope to discover an effective model which will support the treatment of emotional wellbeing conditions in a non-clinical setting.”

Our CEO, Steve Gray, adds: “This partnership will deliver essential understanding into the role a gym setting can play in managing emotional wellbeing. We are committed to delivering a connected healthcare service across our entire estate and this partnership will help us to not only improve our current offering but help us influence the industry in the approach to emotional wellbeing.”

Our Professional Head of Emotional Wellbeing, Brendan Street,concludes: “All of us, four in four, have emotional wellbeing needs and these needs vary, day to day, week to week, year to year depending on what is going on in our lives. Just as people have physical health needs that can change over time, so too do our emotional wellbeing needs. This partnership will enable us to identify the most effective way we can integrate physical and emotional health care in a customer facing setting and the workforce required to provide a range of accessible support for everyone.” 

We run a network of hospitals, medical clinics, fitness and wellbeing clubs and diagnostic units across the UK. In 2018 we opened emotional wellbeing clinics in over half of our fitness and wellbeing clubs, with the ambition to have these clinics rolled out to all clubs by the end of 2020.

Last updated Friday 25 January 2019

First published on Friday 25 January 2019