Active NoW
Supporting patients into exercise with Active NoW
Health and care professionals working with patients who could benefit from being more physically active now have a consistent, simplified way to refer patients into physical activity through Active NoW.
Active NoW is the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System’s (NWICS) coordinated approach to improving physical activity levels for residents who could most benefit from being more active. This includes inactive patients who do less than 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, as well as patients living with a long-term health condition (LTC) whose condition could be managed or improved by being more active.
How does it work?
A coordination centre has been set up to receive physical activity referrals. This is a new single point of access that will help streamline referrals for practitioners.
The service will be managed by Broadland and South Norfolk District Council and work alongside their Broadly Active exercise referral delivery programme. Even though Broadland and South Norfolk District Council are running the coordination centre, referrals can be taken from across Norfolk and Waveney.
Health and care professionals across Norfolk and Waveney can refer their patients into the service by using the online referral form, or our clinicaly systems referral form (SystmOne/EMIS).
Once a referral is made into the coordination centre, trained professionals will assess and triage the referred patient, working with them to identify their needs and the most appropriate physical activity opportunity for them.
What does this mean for health and care professionals?
Active NoW is focused on supporting health and care professionals to quickly and easily refer patients into suitable physical activities based on their needs.
This gives health and care professionals the ability to refer patients to a single location where they can be assessed and directed to the types of activities that are most appropriate to patients. This takes the guesswork out of referrals and reduces the burden on professionals to know what physical activities are available locally.
It also gives health and care professionals the peace of mind that their patients are being supported into physical activity through an NWICS-affiliated model, with appropriately qualified and trained staff operating the service.
Can patients self-refer into Active NoW?
Not at this time, although this feature will hopefully become available in future.
For further information about the Active NoW service, including FAQ's, please see the following link to the NWICS page. Alternatively, you can contact a member of the Active NoW team by calling 01603 430616 or by emailing activenow@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk.