The Fitness Industry Association (FIA) has established a Joint Consultative Forum with a number of royal medical colleges and faculties as part of efforts to increase the number of exercise referrals from GPs.
The forum is the first of its kind and has been designed to offer exercise professionals the opportunity to 'share a table' with doctors from a number of the royal colleges, including the Royal College of General Practitioners.
According to the FIA there is still limited use of exercise as part of preventative medicine and treatment - an issue that the association has identified as one of its key priorities to rectify.
The group is chaired by FIA's chief medical officer, Dr. John Searle OBE.
Searle said: "Exercise has not, to date, been used regularly in primary care and we are now joining forces with the medical profession to do something about that.
"Now that the forum has been established, with the support of the fitness sector and the Department of Health, it has been agreed that its first task will be to draw up new standards in exercise referral."
