Express & Star

New gym in first for Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital

A new outdoor gym will be built outside a Midlands hospital in a nationwide first as officials aim to beat the bulge and help boost the health of heart patients.

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Patients, visitors and staff at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital will be able to use equipment when it is officially opened next month.

Seven outdoor gyms have already been installed around Dudley borough as officials try to improve residents' health after concerns were raised about obesity.

But this is thought to be the first time that such a gym has been created at a hospital in the country thanks to a link up between health bosses and council officials.

Equipment such as outdoor treadmills and bikes are being fitted this week near to the Action Heart Centre at the hospital, off High Street, Pensnett.

The gym will be specifically targeted for use by people with heart conditions and people referred through Dudley's exercise referral programme.

These rehabilitation services and referral programmes are run by the Action Heart charity on behalf of Dudley Council's Office of Public Health.

But the new facility will be made available to everyone to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

Dudley Council's public health boss, Councillor Stuart Turner, said: "In Dudley we have a long track record of providing a nationally recognised cardiac rehabilitation service and exercise referral programme.

"This new outdoor equipment will be primarily used to support this work but the equipment will also be available to visitors and other patients. We hope it will help raise the profile further of all of the outdoor gyms we have located across the borough."

Chief executive at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Paula Clark, added: "The rehabilitation and referral programmes aim to establish long term physical activity habits with our service users so that they can sustain a healthy level of physical exercise.

"The idea behind having the gym at the hospital is that the service users get trained to use it so that they are confident to carry on using the ones in the community settings."

Officials at Dudley Council have also revealed plans to cut waistlines in the borough late last year after it emerged 15,000 young people were deemed overweight.

Outdoor gyms were built at seven sites, such at Halesowen's Huntingtree Park, and a recent review showed they have been successful in increasing people's activity levels and helping people manage their weight.

It comes as figures suggest one in five, or 21 per cent, of people are obese in Dudley.

The statistics led to council officials proposing new planning guidelines across the borough.

Fast food outlets will no longer be allowed to open within 400 metres of school gates, according to planning laws which have been drafted.

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