The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) have awarded Bournemouth University (BU) and University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) with a ‘Research Team Impact Prize’ for their community cycling against hip pain programme at an award ceremony in London on 24 September 2026.

The ‘CHAIN’ intervention was first launched in 2013 and is a collaboration between patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) at UHD, who have been referred onto a weekly education session and group cycling class that takes place over eight weeks.

The classes are delivered in partnership with BH Live, a registered charity and social enterprise, at Littledown Centre in Bournemouth by their health and wellbeing team. Participants of the CHAIN programme are referred directly from UHD via BH Live’s exercise referral scheme.

Viv Galpin, Bournemouth Health and Wellbeing Manager for BH Live, shared;

"Through our involvement in CHAIN since its launch, we have witnessed participants develop the confidence, motivation and skills needed to remain physically active long after the programme has ended. It's a privilege to deliver this programme, and it's fantastic to see it's been recognised with an NIHR award."

 Tom Wainwright, Professor of Orthopaedics at BU and Consultant Physiotherapist at UHD said:

“Being recognised for this award is testament to the hard work that BU clinical academics, researchers and UHD NHS clinicians have done over the last 10 years to bring this programme to the community.”

Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability in older people. In the UK, 10 million people have OA, with 3.2 million suffering from hip OA.

The CHAIN programme was praised for its impact on community health where patients reported a significant improvement in hip function after treatment compared to usual physiotherapy care. The majority of participants were still using self-management strategies to manage their hip pain, and 57 percent had not pursued surgical intervention.

Unlike standard physiotherapy one-to-one sessions, the cycling and education classes treat multiple patients at the same time in group sessions. This has proved to be more cost-effective than standard treatment and it is hoped that this will contribute to reducing NHS waiting times for physiotherapy treatment in the future.

Dr Peter Wilson, Chief Medical Officer at UHD said:

“We are an ageing population and increasingly we are seeing more patients with osteoarthritis that need either surgery or physiotherapy. This NIHR award recognises that by reducing physiotherapy waiting times we can help relieve the financial demand on NHS services.”

BU’s Professor Rob Middleton and orthopaedic surgeon at UHD said:

“Hip replacements cost the NHS over £6,000 per patient, so avoiding surgery for hip problems reduced the burden on the NHS, saves money, and provides better outcomes for patients.”

To help roll out the programme on a national level, the BU team have developed a virtual course on their education app. Individuals are able to follow the programme from their home or gym using a static bike.

The future aim of CHAIN is to roll it out nationally by providing other clinical teams across the UK with the knowledge and skills to set up their own interventions.

For further information about the CHAIN programme, please visit the BU website.

For more information about BH Live’s health and wellbeing programmes, visit bhliveactive.org.uk/health-and-wellbeing-activities.