Following London Sport’s Fit for the Future launch event, some common themes have emerged regarding making physical activity a more routine part of health and care services across the capital. We are sharing these below, and you can review the full event report here.
Common themes across the system
Across health partners, there was strong recognition that NHS culture and structures remain more aligned to treatment than prevention. Workforce understanding of physical activity also remains inconsistent, while partnerships often rely too heavily on individual relationships and goodwill rather than formal structures and support.
Local Authority partners highlighted data and monitoring as some of the biggest practical challenges, alongside inconsistent political buy-in and difficulties connecting activity across different parts of the system.
Sector partners reflected on the importance of better connecting the physical activity ecosystem, alongside making greater use of storytelling and lived experience to demonstrate impact and engage communities.
There was also broad agreement that digital and technology will play an important role going forward, while recognising the risk of excluding communities already facing barriers to support and access.
Priorities for 2026
Partners across London were also asked to identify areas that should be prioritised over the next 12 months.
Across both health and local authority discussions, several themes consistently emerged, including:
- Partnerships
- Workforce development
- Monitoring and evaluation
All of these insights will help shape the next phase of planning and collaboration with and across London’s health and care system.
Further findings, recommendations, and detailed analysis can be found in the full Fit for the Future event report here.