LJMU campaigns successfully for better status for clinical exercise professionals

The importance of exercise for our health has never been more evident than during the Pandemic, and exercise professionals have played a growing role in not only keeping us fit and healthy but helping people recover from illness.

Now, thanks to a successful campaign spearheaded by LJMU’s Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Clinical Exercise Physiologists (CEPs) will see their status raised as registered health professionals.

In hospital settings, CEPs provide expert advice on exercise for people with a range of chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Professor Helen Jones, of the School of Exercise and Sports Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, said: “The registration of Clinical Exercise Physiologists is a crucial step in ensuring high quality support for healthcare in the UK and in growing the options for supporting greater uptake of exercise in the community.”

More exercise 'prescriptions'

Professional registration represents a step-change in the provision of exercise prescription in clinical populations.  Those registered will be qualified health professionals proficient in exercise testing, prescription and delivery of interventions for the prevention, treatment and management of chronic and complex conditions.

Professional registration of exercise physiologists is already established in other countries, like Australia, and has recognised health and economic benefits.

The move has been coordinated by CEP-UK, an advisory group* of academics from Liverpool John Moores University and other UK and international universities, professional bodies and healthcare providers, established to promote exercise physiology in health services.

It will bring clinical exercise physiologists into line with other health professionals.

Standards ensured

A statement from CEP-UK said: “Clinical Exercise Physiologists are now eligible for professional registration with the Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists (RCCP), which holds a voluntary register regulated by the professional standards authority.

“Professional registration ensures Clinical Exercise Physiologists are appropriately trained, meet standards of proficiency, have indemnity insurance, are committed to continued professional development and are deemed ‘fit to practice’.

“The process to accredit Higher Education MSc degree programmes will be announced in Spring 2022 with a view to opening a graduate Clinical Exercise Physiologist registration route in September 2022.

- LJMU is one of just a handful of UK universities, which run a MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology. LJMU will be looking to apply for accreditation when the process opens.

Our Partners are: 

University of Western Australia (Prof Danny Green), Keele University, Coventry University, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Southampton, Edinburgh Napier University, University of the Sunshine Coast, University of Portsmouth and Loughborough University.