Leading health experts have warned that the continued closures of swimming pools are ‘building up health problems for the future’.
They say it is ‘critical’ pools safely reopen at the earliest available opportunity to help more than 20 million people living in England with long-term conditions that cannot be cured but which require ongoing support from health and social care services.
Surgeons, physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists have said the ‘specific and unique benefits of using the water’ to help treat these conditions is being lost – and aquatic activity offers a ‘safe and effective environment’ where people can manage their physical and mental health.
Swim England has shown how pools can help save the NHS and social care system more than £357 million a year as being in the water can help manage a range of conditions and reduce the amount of visits to GPs or hospitals for treatment.
