I retired early from the NHS mid January 2011 as I was not given appropriate management support to provide the high level of rehabilitation that had been offered over many years when the quality of service provision was deteriorating.
At the same time the long term exercise sessions (LTE) that had been provided for over two years to clients who had completed rehabilitation were changed. These classes moved from being provided four times per week within the rehabilitation setting allowing individuals the choice to attend twice weekly with a day rest in between to being only offered attendance once each week by a private provider.

Whilst working for the NHS I could not provide the service that I wanted to do but I also recognised it was not part of my employer’s role to provide LTE sessions. Now having retired I am able to ensure that the relevant quality of service is available and that it is offered several times each week to ensure that once individuals have gained fitness they are able to maintain and improve on it.

For many years I have tried to add rehabilitation sessions for people who suffer with disease processes related to ageing and wear and tear. I feel that it is a very cost effective way to ensure that people maintain mobility and reduce levels of pain and disability. There is less need for medication or the levels of medication can be reduced by individuals performing appropriate exercises. It has the additional benefit of the individual being responsible for their health and regaining control of their lives.
Now having retired from the NHS I am able to provide a cost effective LTE service and provide the initial exercise rehabilitation for a wider group of people that previously I was not allowed to provide.
The following list is a small example of the disease processes that can benefit from regular exercise when prescribed appropriately for the individual;
Diabetes, osteoarthritis, frailty and obesity.
Recovering from injury makes exercising harder to perform and many people are unable to attend the number of physiotherapy sessions to get the benefit required as waiting lists and limited service provision by the NHS prevents it.
For those who suffer from heart disease the NHS does provide rehabilitation but afterwards the individual is left to find their own way forward with many private providers fearful of giving them the service they need. The more needy clients get less opportunity as they present as a risk to the private provider so it is my intention to provide a relevant service for those who wish to use it.