Shifting from referral destination to health system partner

Held in September, EGYM’s Public Sector Summit showcased how data, technology and collaboration are transforming leisure centres into frontline hubs for community health and wellbeing

Public sector leisure has spent years establishing its role as a route into physical activity and better health. The next step, aligned with Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy and the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan, is to build stronger connections with the wider health and prevention system. This means leisure, healthcare and community services working together as part of a joined-up pathway, rather than operating as disconnected interventions.

That means moving beyond the traditional model in which a healthcare professional identifies a need, makes a referral and hopes the individual successfully makes the transition into leisure. If public sector leisure is to play a bigger role in population health, it needs to be connected to the systems, data, professionals and pathways that support prevention from the outset.

That was the central theme at EGYM’s Public Sector Summit 2026, held at the company’s UK headquarters in Paternoster Square, London, on 17 September. Bringing together public sector operators, industry stakeholders, exercise referral partners and health providers and hosted by Glen Thurgood, Chief Strategic Officer, Evolve, the Summit explored what needs to change if leisure services are to become a more integral part of the prevention pathway.

WHO SHOULD PUBLIC SECTOR LEISURE BE TARGETING FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT Opening the event, Cameron Saunders, CEO of ukactive, challenged delegates to look beyond the demographic groups public leisure has traditionally targeted. While Gen Z attracts significant attention, ukactive’s collated market data suggests the strongest growth is coming from older age groups, with every cohort aged 35 and over growing faster, in relative terms, than 25–34-year-olds. The three oldest cohorts, aged 55+, are growing fastest of all.

That presents an opportunity to engage people traditionally less likely to use gyms and leisure facilities. Saunders cited consumer research showing 34% of people have never been a gym member with lower socioeconomic communities disproportionately represented. Lack of confidence and discomfort in gym environments, rather than cost, were quoted as major barriers.

The answer is not simply to push more people into existing provision, but to create more accessible and relevant routes into activity. Saunders highlighted walking groups, physical activity hubs and rehabilitation programmes as examples of entry points that can build confidence and encourage longer-term engagement.

The most important thing for public sector leisure is getting a wider cohort into gyms, starting that fitness journey

REFERRAL IS NOT THE PROBLEM ’ THE SYSTEM IS But getting people through the door is only part of the challenge. Tanya Hall, UK Strategic Partnership Manager at EGYM, highlighted the gap between healthcare’s growing recognition of exercise and the infrastructure available to turn that recognition into referrals at scale.

Exercise is already a significant part of primary care conversations. NHS England data shows that exercise and physical-activity advice was recorded around 3.5 million times in GP patient records in England in 2024–25, using SNOMED CT codes including “Patient advised about exercise”, “Health education – exercise” and “Recommendation to exercise”. The data provides a clear indication of the scale at which exercise is already being incorporated into primary care, underlining the opportunity to make those conversations more actionable by connecting patients with appropriate activity pathways.

Hall highlighted a practical barrier to exercise referrals: with GP appointments often lasting just 10 minutes, completing the necessary paperwork can take up much of the consultation. Add disconnected systems and poor data flows, and exercise can become a more complex option than prescribing medication.

Technology has a critical enabling role to play. APIs and connected platforms need to move information seamlessly between health and leisure then vice versa, creating one seamless fl ow rather than a series of handovers. That infrastructure also needs to support tailored programming, simplified referral forms, data-led equipment, less intimidating environments and suitably trained professionals.

TAKING THE COMPLEXITY OUT OF THE SCIENCE Crucially, the data behind those systems needs to be scientifically credible while remaining accessible to consumers, fitness professionals and healthcare practitioners. EGYM’s BioAge was presented as one example, providing a science-based benchmarking and progress-tracking metric designed to be understood by all across the ecosystem.

Christian Hasler, CEO of SKILLSCOURT, extended the discussion by arguing for cognitive responses to be measured alongside physical markers, introducing “chaos” into testing protocols through SKILLSCOURT’s EGYM app integration. The principle was clear: prevention systems need to be rooted in science, but the outputs must be simple enough to understand and trust.

Our job is to stop as many people as possible ending up in a GP surgery or hospital. Should they end up there our job is to support them in repair and rehab

THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE STILL MATTERS A panel chaired by Julie Allen, MD, Active Insight, brought those principles back to the practical experience of the individual. Neil Pimlott (Blackpool Council), Will Hickey (Plymouth Active), Suzanne Gabb (Good Boost) and Jerry Saddington (ReferAll) demonstrated that removing barriers requires more than connected technology. Environment, programming, people and relationships all influence whether a referral becomes a meaningful engagement.

Pimlott described Blackpool’s ten redesigned referral pathways, each supported by bespoke digital journeys and adapted environments that help people become familiar with equipment as they progress. Hickey outlined Plymouth’s focus on relationships with local health professionals, including bringing an osteoporosis team into the leisure environment. Gabb stressed the importance of trust, accreditation, communication and staff capability.

Together, the examples reinforced an important point: technology is an enabler, not a standalone solution.

GLP„1S ADD URGENCY TO THE PREVENTION CONVERSATION The Summit also addressed one of the most immediate changes facing health and leisure: the growing use of GLP-1 medicines. Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi, GP, highlighted the need for exercise prescription to support people beyond initial weight loss, including maintaining muscle mass, strength, confidence and long-term behaviour change. Objective feedback and psychologically safe environments were identified as important components.

EGYM is collaborating with the Technical University of Munich on a clinical study to examine whether a 15-minute, structured strength program can support muscle preservation during GLP-1 treatment. The study will measure muscle mass, strength, body composition and functional outcomes.

FROM USEFUL ADD„ON TO EMBEDDED PROVIDER The message for senior operators was clear: the foundations for public sector leisure to become part of the health prevention system are already in place. Facilities, workforce, community reach and increasingly sophisticated technology exist. The next step is connecting those assets to the wider health system.

That means looking beyond referral numbers or memberships and asking a broader question: how effectively is the leisure service helping to solve the health challenges of its local population? Connect the systems, root data in science, create more inclusive environments and build purposeful relationships with healthcare, and public sector leisure can move from useful add-on to essential component of a preventative, community-based approach to health. For more information about EGYM visit: [https://engage.egym.com/A614f2O](https://engage.egym.com/A614f2O)