A health programme that prescribes exercise as medicine has helped more than 1,700 patients in Essex to become physically active.

The Let’s Get Moving (LGM) scheme - run by ukactive in conjunction with Active Essex - targets patients in need of activity interventions, giving them the tools and confidence to develop positive lifestyle habits and meet people.

ukactive has been delivering the plan in the county for more than two years, with research showing that participants showed an average 75 per cent increase in physical activity levels by the end of the programme.

13 GP surgeries across Essex have taken part in the scheme, which uses motivational interviewing techniques by community exercise professionals to give patients the inspiration and opportunity to get active.

The intervention offers participants 12 weeks of support that includes an initial one-to-one appointment with an exercise professional, two follow-up calls, and a further consultation at three months to discuss how things went. Patients also get access to a weekly peer group that gives them the opportunity to meet other people on the programme and share experiences.

“We are paying a heavy price for inactivity in the UK, and we need to look at every possible way we can embed movement into our most inactive communities,” said Will Smithard, ukactive strategic projects director.

“LGM is a fantastic programme reaching the people that need it most, providing them with the tools, confidence and motivation to build physical activity into their lives.”

The scheme will be ongoing until spring next year.

Azeem Akhtar, Active Essex chair, said: “Projects like this, which are happening across the county, will help us achieve our ambitious goal of changing one million lives by getting people across Essex active.”

In June, Active Essex launched a strategy to get one million people moving by 2021.