GPS prescribe canal walks for depression

CANAL walks are being prescribed by GPS to combat depression, the Canal & River Trust has revealed.

A trip to the canal reduces stress and helps people deal with low mood and loneliness, the charity’s chairman has claimed, as he unveiled a rebrand focusing on the health and well-being benefits of the waterways.

Allan Leighton told The Daily Telegraph that the conservation charity wanted to promote a “natural health service” that could help reduce pressure on the NHS.

In one case, a GP service in Buckinghamshire has begun prescribing a canalside walking route to help patients deal with high blood pressure, depression and lung conditions. “It’s complementary to the NHS,” he said. “It is a health issue, there is no doubt. If people go by the water they are less stressed, they’re more healthy, they have more fun, they’re more relaxed. We are saying ‘come and enjoy this, it’s good for you’.”

The announcement came as Helen Stokes-lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said “social prescribing”, which involves directing a patient towards an activity, should be used more often.

She said: “For social prescribing we need access to up-to-date databases of what is out there. But this is patchy around the country.

“I propose a Wiki-style approach to doing it where organisations themselves contribute to the database – but it would need to be quality-assured.”