In the UK, it is considered good practice to get new clients/gym members to fill in a brief self-screening risk assessment. It's called a 'Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire' - or PAR-Q). Among the questions about chest pains, blood pressure and heart disease, there's a question asking if you get seizures. If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, you need to go to your doctor to discuss the limitations that your condition may place on you, in terms of exercise. You need to get written medical clearance from your doctor before the gym or trainer can let you train - their insurance insists on it.

Well, I have been through this process AGAIN over recent weeks. I was presented with the form, answered 'yes' to the question on seizures and was subsequently asked to get a medical clearance letter from my doctor. After 6 weeks of waiting, I was then asked to come and see the doctor in person - which took another week to organise. The doctor agreed that there would be no problem in my using the service (a sports massage) and agreed to write a letter supporting this. They explained that there would be a charge, but didn't know the exact cost. They suggested that I asked the receptionist - which I did. They didn't know either. They suggested I tried their website.

I checked their website and found that there is a standard charge across the UK for private letters which is as follows: £25 for a single page, £50 for two pages and £120 for longer documents. So, for anybody needing to have a medical clearance letter, to use a gym or a sports club, it will cost them at least £25 - assuming that their condition doesn't cover more than a single sheet of paper to explain. I want to point out that if you DON'T have epilepsy or the other conditions noted on the PAR-Q form, then these costs wouldn't apply to you.

Having learned that, I said that I simply couldn't afford the £25 for the doctor's letter - which I chose to cancel. This means I am not going to use that sports/fitness service.

I am a fully qualified gym instructor and personal trainer. I used to train other instructors - at a place called Loughborough University - as well as running Fitness Services at The University of Birmingham. I have exercised regularly the past 25 years. The barriers that were placed before me have excluded ME from using a fitness facility - and have prevented me from becoming 'more active'. The UK's government are aiming to get more inactive people and more people with long-term conditions/'disabilities' to perform regular exercise. Do you honestly think that this series of barriers is going to allow that?