The NHS should look to prescribe walking as a medical treatment for certain patients, according to a GP whose practice has yielded positive health benefits from exercise on recommendation.

Dr John Morgan, who also serves as an Ireland Rugby doctor, believes that after starting to suggest exercise and walking a decade ago, his practice saw an improvement in patients’ health and fewer hospital admissions.

Following an audit of his practice conducted by students from Manchester University, it was found that a number of patients had found relief from chronic illnesses and disorders.

For example, 29 per cent of patients who were prescribed exercise at the practice were able to give up antidepressants, with 92.5 per cent also reporting improvements in their mood.

As well as reduced blood pressure for most people, other findings showed that 61 per cent of patients had lost weight and 84 per cent said they also started to exercise beyond the weekly slots suggested by their doctor.

"Our costs for admissions were £8,000 per patient, compared with £13,000 for one of the other (areas) even though its population is more affluent. Prescribing exercise can save the NHS a huge amount of money – the evidence is there,” said Dr Morgan.

“I think we do need to medicalise walking. I want to see more GPs prescribing exercise as both prevention and treatment. I’d like to think it was happening everywhere, but that’s probably not the case at the moment.”

A number of calls have been made for the NHS to further promote exercise being given as a form of medical treatment, with a number of leading experts suggesting physical inactivity is costing the UK’s economy around £20bn each year, with that figure set to rise further.

Backing calls made by industry leaders, think tank Policy Exchange has urged the government to encourage GPs to refer patients to non-clinical sources of support, such as fitness classes held in local parks.

Should such measures be heeded, it could open up a wealth of opportunities for leisure providers to benefit from responsibilities being cast further afield, with the potential for health and fitness providers to gain access to an £8bn market.

However, one argument against the idea of prescribing exercise is that it would potentially put GPs under more strain created by new protocols and bureaucracy.