A £340,000 scheme launched in the Staffordshire Moorlands to help people boost their fitness has been controversially axed after only seven months.
Back in June 2009,, the Health Trainer programme, part of a joint initiative between NHS North Staffordshire and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, was launched, aiming to help residents in deprived areas of the district improve their lifestyles by developing personal health plans.
However, after only 120 people signed up to the scheme health officials have decided to axe the scheme, with the loss of nine health experts.
Four trainers were appointed in the Moorlands to cover four wards where people have traditionally suffered poor health, including Leek North, as well as Biddulph East, Biddulph South and Cheadle West.
The health trainers were encouraged to go into their communities and sign people up to the new service and referred to a range of local health initiatives, such as walking schemes and weight loss programmes.
The team, which at one point reached 13 trainers, should have completed 2,800 personal health plans a year, but mustered only 120 between them — at a cost of £2,800 each.
NHS North Staffordshire claimed it had axed the service in order that it could reinvest into more “effective services.”
A spokesman said: “We have a duty to ensure that our available resources are invested in the most effective services to benefit the health of our patient population.
“Whilst the demand for this programme was low, the lifestyle services such as healthy weights, smoking cessation and walking for health all remain in place and we remain committed to improving the health and well-being of the communities we serve.”
The Health Trainer service is the second costly health care scheme to be axed in the Moorlands, which has some of the most deprived areas in the county.
In December, quit smoking classes in venues across Leek were closed after a similar low take-up from the public.
Nobody from the district council was available to comment at the time of going to press.