The Department of Health stipulates that we can only accept referrals to our exercise referral programme from doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and dietitians.
We cannot accept referrals from health trainers, social prescribers, assistant health professionals, or falls specialists.
- Guidance for health professionals [PDF, 0.4MB]
- Patient exclusion criteria [PDF, 0.1MB]
- Terms and conditions [PDF, 0.7MB]
We encourage you to register with the service. If you do so, we will add you to our database of health professionals and send you downloadable copies of the referral forms and regular emails about the service.
You can also provide consent for us to share your contact details with South Cambridgeshire District Council’s exercise referral service.
Patient eligibility
You should only refer patients who:
- are medically stable
- are open to the idea of becoming more active
- take part in less than 150 minutes of moderate activity each week
- are aged 18 or older – some exceptions apply
- live in Cambridge – some exceptions apply
Eligible reasons for referral include:
- Anxiety or depression illnesses
- Arthritis, osteoporosis, joint replacement rehabilitation or musculoskeletal injuries
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Diabetes
- Heart disease, high blood pressure or cardiac conditions
- Long covid or respiratory illness
- Neurological conditions
- Obesity
The exercise referral service is not an alternative to physiotherapy, and a lack of general fitness is not an eligible reason for referral.
We encourage you not to refer patients who have previously accessed the service unless their health has deteriorated because of a new medical condition.
People aged under 18
We accept referrals for patients aged 16 to 17 in some circumstances. This is dependent on the exercise venue and at our discretion.
Please contact us before referring patients younger than 18.
If the patient is accepted, a responsible adult must accompany them to all sessions.
People who live outside Cambridge
We accept referrals for people who live outside the city boundary if a Cambridge venue is most convenient for their exercise.
Refer a patient
To refer a patient, download and complete the referral form.
Give a physical copy of the completed exercise referral form to the patient, so they can contact the appropriate branch of the Exercise Referral Service. This helps us check that you have a patient’s permission for you to give us their medical information.
Please do not send exercise referral forms to leisure centres or council offices by post, as exercise referral instructors do not permanently operate out of these premises.
Sending an exercise referral form by post strongly increases the chances of severely delaying the patients exercise referral programme.
You should use one of the following forms for patients with heart problems:
- Exercise referral form for clients with a cardiac medical history [DOC, 0.1MB]
- Exercise referral form for clients transferring from cardiac rehabilitation phase III to phase IV [RTF, 92Kb]
Supporting information
We can deliver a supply of referral forms to your medical practice.
We can also provide the following promotional posters about the service:
- Exercise referral service – general information
- Cancer rehabilitation exercise class for men at Hills Road Sports Centre
- Cancer rehabilitation – general information
- Cardiac rehabilitation – general information
- Long-term condition rehabilitation – general information
There are some short promotional videos on our YouTube channel, including:
- Cancer rehabilitation insight video
- Cardiac rehabilitation insight video
- Long-term condition strength and mobility insight video
Contact us if you want to play these videos in your waiting area.
We can visit your practice to introduce our services to you and your colleagues. Contact us to arrange this, or a video call if that is more convenient.
